Foxtrot
by LucklessOne
Summary: Lila slammed her hands against the table. "You need to befriend Adrien Agreste and clear my name!" she cried. Nick wondered if Lila has gone mad. Because apparently she expects her self-declared antisocial stepbrother to befriend an extremely popular teen model. (There's also something about stealing the fox kwami, but Nick is pretty sure he's gone mad himself.) [OC as Main Char]
1. Everything You Need to Know About Nick

**A/N:** **Story is set right after the episode 'Volpina'.**

 **It's probably going to be 100% focused on the OC Main Character.**

* * *

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Nick sat at the dining room table, grasping a golden pocket watch in his hands. It marked 5 PM, with the company logo "GABRIEL" flashing back at him on the clock's face.

"I don't even need a watch…" he mumbled under his breath.

SLAM!

Perking up at that sound, the male hastily shoved the watch into the bamboo plant in front of him. It fell inside the pot. Just in time too, for Lila had just entered the room.

"-how dare she! Thinking that everything will be alright just because she apologized?! Who does she think she is?! I HATE HER!" She paced back and forth in front of the dining table, fists clenched so hard they're turning white.

Nick quirked an eyebrow, leaning back on his chair. Seeing as she won't stop stomping through the dining area, the male sighed. He's going to regret this.

"...Hate who?"

Lila snapped her head towards his direction, stilling her entire body. Her voice turned low, back tones of a growl filtering through.

"Ladybug," she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Ladybug..?" Nick spent longer than he should trying to remember who that was. "Isn't she that superhero-?"

"She's no hero!" Lila cried, crossing her arms. "The nerve of her! Humiliating me twice today…! Saying all those mean things about me!" She was breathing heavily now, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Doesn't she know how much that hurts..?!" she asked, voice reducing to a hoarse whisper.

Nick scrunched up his eyebrows, a frown set upon his lips. He sat up properly, elbows on the table, hand propping up his chin.

"What did she do."

Lila gulped, steadying her voice. She turned to the side.

"She humiliated me, twice now, in front of Adrien!"

Hearing that, Nick relaxed his shoulders.

"Oh. If that's it, you can probably redeem yourself-"

"No I can't! It's over!" Lila wailed, her fists back to her sides, "He's going to think that everything I say is a lie, which is not! Adrien Agreste IS mine!"

"That guy you're obsessed with?" He clicked his tongue, "Just because we transferred here for him, doesn't mean that he's your-"

"YES HE IS." Lila leaned over the table, glaring at Nick. "Speaking of transferring, where were you? I didn't see you at school today."

Nick shrugged. "A bunch of squirrels were blocking the way and I couldn't go around them, so I just decided not to come."

"Ugh, liar!" Lila scowled at her stepbrother. "Stop skipping things! I need you there as backup in case someone doesn't believe how amazing my life is!"

Nick slouched, one hand cupping his cheek. "Blah."

"I'm serious, Niccolo." There was a pause. Lila examined the person in front of her in further detail. "Actually, now that I think about it…"

Nick felt shivers go down his spine. "Whatever it is, I'm saying no."

She continued on anyway. "...how about we strike a little deal."

"No."

"Come on, hear me out."

"No."

"It'll really benefit you!"

"No."

Before Nick could move an inch, Lila swiped the bamboo plant from the table. Nick made a wild attempt to snatch it back, but all he got was thin air as the girl backed away.

She pulled out the pocket watch from the plant, a wide smile on her face.

"Now what do we have here..?"

Nick groaned, slumping against the dining table.

"Come on, sis…"

Putting the plant back on the table, Lila made a show of examining the watch in her hand, handling it as if it was the most precious thing in the world.

"What a lovely watch! Such lovely golden luster! And look at those clock hands!" she proclaimed, face nearly pressing up against it. "Wait a minute! Isn't this my father's?! What is it doing inside that convenient bamboo plant right next to you?!"

The male sighed, running a hand through his light brown hair.

"You and I both know I picked it from his room," he admitted, deadpanning at her.

" _Stole_ it, you mean." Lila had the smuggest smirk on her face. "Mom and dad are going to freak if they figure out you've been stealing again. Especially when you insisted you've broken from that habit."

Nick grumbled under his breath. A couple of seconds later, he sighed loudly. "Okay, okay, what's your deal?"

Lila smiled brightly, eyes squinting. "Aww Nick, I'm so glad that you're listening to me of your own free will! So listen up-"

"Listening," mumbled Nick, rolling his eyes.

"-I checked the class list. Adrien Agreste is in _your_ class."

Nick tilted his head to the side. "So what? You want me to cause some trouble, try to get the teacher to switch me with you?"

"No, cause then he'd think I somehow manipulated you, which I did not!" She pocketed the watch in her jacket, "I need you to get close to him."

"I thought you want him to be _your_ boyfriend."

"I meant as a friend!" Lila snapped.

"...Wha?"

The girl groaned, shaking her head. "Do you need me to spell it out for you?!"

"Proper sentences would be nice."

Lila slammed her hands against the table. "You need to befriend Adrien Agreste and clear my name!" she cried, her nails digging into the wood.

Nick blinked once.

Then twice.

"I think the Parisian air is getting to you," he said in a clear, level voice.

Lila growled at him.

"Niccolo," she warned, "In return, I'll cover for you whenever you do something that makes our parents upset."

"Like..?"

"Like?" The girl scoffed, a faint smile occupying her lips. "The fact that you steal all the time, the fact that you constantly skip school or meetings or dinner, the fact that you have virtually no friends or social life to speak of-"

"I can't control any of those things!" whined Niccolo, scrunching up his face into a pout.

"And that's why I'll cover for you!" Lila spread her arms out. "This is a win-win situation for both of us!"

"You want me, your antisocial stepbrother, to befriend Adrien Agreste. Popular teen model. With crazy hordes of fangirls constantly chasing after him. One of those fangirls being the mayor's daughter." Nick spoke in short, clipped sentences. "I don't know much about him, but he probably has a whole army of friends at his side. What makes you think I can infiltrate that, plus gain so much of his trust that he'll forgive you by extension?"

"You're my last hope, Niccolo." The girl clasped her hands together. "Adrien Agreste _is_ mine, and the only way he can see that is if some third party convinces him!"

Nick rolled his eyes at the 'third party' part. "What makes you think I'll even _try_?"

Lila smiled. "Because we're family!"

Silence.

Finally, Nick sighed, slumping in his seat.

"Cheap shot. You know that I'm a sucker for family."

"So you'll do it?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

Thus on that day, Niccolo "Nick" Conti made a grave mistake.

* * *

"Everyone, today we have a new student! His name is Niccolo Conti, and he's from Italy, so it..."

Niccolo kept his face neutral, blankly staring at the back of the room, eyeing the large bookshelves that are way taller than himself. The teen tried to ignore everyone around him.

"...you like to say a little bit about yourself?"

The attention towards him caused Nick to stop zoning out. He turned towards his new teacher.

"No, not really," he answered, shifting a bit.

Miss Bustier blinked, seemingly at a lost of words, before smiling. "That's fine. Moving to a new school can be a very scary experience. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or any of your classmates. Now, go and pick a seat."

Nick's eyes immediately wandered to the back of the classroom. Spotting an empty seat, he rushed towards the bench without making eye-contact with anybody else. Then the male sat down, staring rather focused-like at his desk.

"Today," spoke up the teacher, causing most of the heads to finally stop staring at him, "We are going to be looking at the works of…"

Nick once again zoned out, preferring to stare off into the windows.

* * *

An hour later, with the sounds of paper flipping and the teacher's voice speaking in the background, he closed his eyes.

Nick woke up to someone shaking his shoulder.

The male blinked blearily, before turning over to his left. There, he spotted a male with tomato red hair, his blue eyes staring at him wide-eyed.

"Um…" the redhead started, fidgeting with a pencil he held in his hands.

Nick sat up straighter, scanning the room. Everyone seems to be in the middle of packing up, many chatting about what they're going to do during lunchtime.

"Ah." Nick brushed his nose with the back of his hand. "I fell asleep."

The redhead nodded. "Yeah. Miss Bustier is letting it slide for now, since you're new, but the school is pretty strict on sleepers."

"My bad." He ruffled his hair. "Thanks for waking me up..?"

His classmate nodded. Then, seeing as no one was going to say anything else, the redhead packed up his bags.

With another curt nod, he left the room.

Nick rubbed his cheeks, trying to get the last hints of sleepiness right out of his system. So it's lunchtime, and he had no idea what was going on for the past hour or two.

"I might as well just skip school for the rest of the day," he muttered to himself, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Hello!"

Nick jumped, whirling his head to the sound of that voice. Next to him was a girl dressed in all pink, with a blonde pixie cut and the biggest blue eyes he has ever seen.

"Uh…" said Nick, blankly staring at the person in front of him. "Hello..?"

"I'm Rose!" she chimed, almost twirling around her pink mini skirt. "And this is Juleka!" The girl gestured to her taller friend. Nick totally missed her, it's almost like she's invisible.

"Are we doing introductions? I'm Nick," said Niccolo, scratching his cheek.

Rose grinned at him. "Since you're new, Juleka and I want to show you around!"

Nick continued to stare blankly at her. "Me?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Rose, clapping her hands, "This year, we have many new students in our grade! There's Alya, and Adrian, and Lila… But they usually made friends by the first period, so they get a tour by them. Since you didn't make any friends, we figured we can be your first! Cause friendship is always great!"

Nick tilted his head to the side, wondering if he should be offended at the comment about his lack of friends, before Juleka cut in.

"Only if you, you know, want to…" she mumbled, so low that Nick had to strain his ears to hear her.

Even though it may have been perceived as creepy, Nick continued to stare at them. Rose appeared to be the very definition of cheerful whilst Juleka fiddled with her fingerless gloves.

Still, the two looked like they held no ulterior motive.

"Okay," replied Nick before he could stop himself. While Juleka had her eyes wide and eyebrows up in surprise, Rose squealed.

"Great!" The blonde girl grabbed onto his wrist. "Let's go! We need to show you everything before lunch break is over!"

Next thing he knew, Nick was being dragged all over school by an energetic blonde and her quiet companion.

* * *

A couple of hours later, at home, Niccolo embraced the silence. He sat at the dining table, chewing on some food, watching the sky through the windows. It seems that it has started to rain.

SLAM!

The door opened.

"So?!" exclaimed Lila, rushing to take a seat next to him.

Nick gave her an annoyed look, hugging his large bowl of macaroni and cheese closer to himself.

"So what." He took a big spoonful of his food.

Lila huffed, rolling her eyes. "So Adrien! Did you talk to him?! Did you talk to him about me?!"

Nick purposely took his time chewing, watching Lila glare at him as she waited for him to finish. Finally, he swallowed his food, clicking his tongue to savour the taste. Seeing his sister at wits end with him, he decided to talk.

"Nope."

"What do you mean nope?!" cried Lila. Nick was about to take another spoonful of mac and cheese, but Lila immediately slapped his spoon out of his hand. "Eat later! Did you even talk to him at all?!"

Nick watched mournfully as his spoon flew to the other side of the table. He then sighed, turning towards his sister.

"No. I didn't see him at all today," said Nick.

Lila placed her hands to her hips. "He was at school today. I saw him. I wanted to speak to him, but everyone kept bugging me about the Volpina thing, those non-believers. Didn't even get a chance."

"Eh, I wasn't paying attention."

"Niccolo!" scolded Lila, "Are you even trying?! Do you want to honour this deal?! I still have the pocket watch with your fingerprints on it, you know!"

"Aww come on, Lila, I actually went to school for once." Nick made grasping motions at the direction of his lost spoon. "I missed lunch though."

Lila picked up the spoon. "What do you mean missed lunch?"

"Some people showed me around. They were really excited so we all accidentally missed lunch," explained Niccolo. He took the utensil from Lila's hand.

Lila perked up. "Were one of those people Adrien?!"

"Nope." Nick took a bite of his food once more.

Lila groaned, placing a hand on her forehead.

Before she can speak anymore, a new person entered the room.

"Ooh! Are you two bonding?" chimed the voice, bouncing over to where the duo was sitting.

"Nope," answered Lila, hand still on her forehead.

"Not at all." Nick waved. "Hi mom."

"Shame!" proclaimed Francesca Conti, taking a seat at the dining table. "Oh, Nick, can I ask you a favour?"

Niccolo sniffed. "Doesn't matter what I answer, you'll make me do it anyway."

"Good!" exclaimed Francesca, clapping her hands. Her green eyes twinkled in delight. "I ordered some soothing creams from this massage place not too far from here. I was supposed to pick it up today, but I forgot and I'm already at home now. Plus it has started to rain outside, so..."

"Let me guess- You want me to pick it up." Nick forced a smile on his face.

"I'm so glad my son knows me so well!" cheered Francesca, running over to give him a big hug and ruffle his hair.

"Ack, mom, I'm eating!" choked Niccolo, gripping onto his spoon as if his life depended on it.

Francesca merely laughed in reply, before planting a kiss on his forehead. "You should get going right now, the massage place is closing soon."

"Thanks mom," mumbled Nick, patting his hair. He placed his spoon on the table. "Don't eat my food while I'm gone."

"Of course not!" cried the woman, placing a hand on her chest, as if wounded.

Rolling his eyes, Nick excused himself from the table, walking over to the front door.

"See you later, Nick!" exclaimed Lila. She had a light tone in her voice.

Nick raised an eyebrow at her, knowing that she only sounds like that when she's plotting something. Still, he simply rolled his eyes again and stepped out of the house.

* * *

"Master Fu's Massage Shop, huh?" mumbled Niccolo under his breath.

His hands, wet from the rain, slid a bit against the cold doorknob. Nevertheless, he turned it open and entered the shop. Lines of bottles greeted him, with a door on the far end. The door was covered in fancy reading that Nick could never read for the life of him.

There's a counter to the right. An old man seemed to be fiddling with something inside a shelf. Eventually, the man turned around.

"Ah, a customer so late. We were just about to close, so I wasn't expecting anyone else." The man hastily shut some type of box behind him, before straightening out his red Hawaiian shirt. "I'm Master Fu. What can I do for you?"

Nick nodded, frowning a bit. "Uhh… Here to pick up a package for Francesca Conti?"

Fu seemed to perk up. "Ahh, I thought she wouldn't come. There are some special sensitive creams in that package, so I put it out back. Do you mind waiting out here for a couple of minutes?"

Niccolo shrugged in response, which the man took as a yes. He strolled off into the back of the shop, where he opened the door and went through it.

Immediately, Nick eyed the box Fu was fiddling with. He walked over behind the counter and poked the thing with his index finger. The box was of a plain brown colour, and locked to boot. Digging into the pocket of his grey jeans, the teen pulled out his various lock picks and gave it a try.

Surprisingly, it wasn't too long for the familiar clicking sound to be heard. Then again, this box was the least fanciest looking thing of them all. Perhaps it was some sort of temporary holding place.

Inside the box was… Another box.

Instead of shutting this box out of frustration, because Nick certainly doesn't have time to lock pick yet another box, the teen took a closer look at it. This box was hexagon-shaped. Black in colour, with some sort of red detail on the cover. It wasn't even locked itself.

Well, the man is going to come soon. Nick swiped the hexagon box into his hand and shut the bigger box. Then, with his lock picks, he locked the bigger box, wiped his fingerprints with his sweater, and tossed the hexagon box into his hood. That way, there wouldn't have that noticeable bulge in his pockets.

Just as Nick stepped away from the counter, Master Fu came back holding a fancy looking box. Nick grimaced at it. Frankly, he's tired of seeing boxes in this place.

"Here you go. This is for Francesca Conti, yes?" Fu passed the box to Nick.

Nick nodded, grasping the box in his arms.

"Have a nice day," he mumbled under his breath, before casually walking out of the shop.

It was only after walking two streets away from the shop that he stopped moving. Nick stared straight up at the sky, allowing a few raindrops to sting his eyes. He sagged his shoulders in defeat.

"I stole _again_."

The teen glanced at the tree to his side, and figured it was the perfect place to slam his head on in frustration. Which he did once, then stopped after realizing that it hurts and bashing your head against trees is not a good idea.

"I should return that box, but I really don't want to get questioned on how I lock picked that…" mumbled Nick, digging through his hood. He pulled out that familiar hexagon box. "Then again, I wonder what's so important about this thing…"

Well, there's no time like the present.

Casually, Niccolo opened the hexagon-shaped box.

A burst of light filtered through the air. Nick winced, pulling the box away from his face as the light transformed into an orange sphere. It condensed smaller, turned brighter, before the light flickered away to reveal…

"A floating fox," whispered Nick, taking a step backwards. He stumbled against the tree behind him.

The fox creature was originally asleep, but when a few raindrops hit him, he snapped awake.

"Gak! Rain, public place, what in the world?!" squeaked the creature.

Golden fox eyes scanned the figure in front of him, before nodding to himself. He then shot forward into Nick's hood, who appeared to be too frozen to do anything.

"So, human, what's your name? We're usually given a warning before meeting our wielders, but I guess things are rushed in desperate times."

Nick gulped, gripping onto the tree bark.

"Why is a floating mini fox taking refuge in my sweater?" he asked out loud, "Is this some sort of lesson for me to not steal anymore? Cause as persuasive as that is, this is tipping more on the 'weirdness' scale than the 'punishment' scale."

"You steal?" The fox poked his head from the sweater hood to lay on Nick's shoulder. "You probably shouldn't do that. I hear it's not nice."

"I-I know it's not nice!" Nick twisted his head to see the creature. "So what? Are you some sort of security measure for the box? You'll bite anyone who dares touch whatever is inside?"

"Sheesh, you're a weird one." The fox laid on his back, exposing his belly lazily. "It's the opposite, I _want_ you to wear that necklace. You're the chosen one, destined to wield the fox miraculous and help use it for good!"

"Necklace?" Nick glanced over to his hand. Inside the box laid a golden-chain necklace, with a fox tail motif at the tip. "What's so great about this?"

"That's the fox miraculous! Now, you can help fight against Hawk Moth and his evil akuma!" The fox performed a little happy back flip. "Man, I miss being back in action! And the wielder is a guy this time- that's not as common!"

Nick backed away. "What, who's Hawk Moth? Why am I fighting him? Actually, scratch that, I don't care. This is just one huge misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? There are no misunderstandings!" The fox nodded to himself. "If I'm here, that means you're the chosen one! Master Fu left me to you because he saw your potential as a wielder!"

Nick ruffled his damp hair. "I don't think you're getting it…"

"Boy, you sure are uncooperative." The creature puffed up his cheeks. "What are you going on about? What do you mean by I'm not getting it?"

"I…" Nick took in a deep breath. "...I may or may not have stolen that necklace."

The fox froze. "...Eh?"

Nick scrunched up his nose. "I'm pretty sure you heard me correctly."

"...Ah." The fox sat down on his shoulder. "So… This really is a misunderstanding."

"I figured."

Before silence could set the scene, an 8-bit ringtone rung through the air. Nick dug into his pockets to pull out his cellphone. Staring at the caller ID, the male winced. He cancelled the call, gripping tighter on the bigger box.

Nick turned towards the creature. "I gotta go, my mom is getting impatient." He started to break off into a run, but the fox darted in front of him.

"Hey! What about my miraculous?!" he whined.

"Take it!" yelled Nick, shoving the box into the fox's face. "I didn't mean to steal it anyway!"

"How can you accidentally steal- Wait, hold on-!" protested the orange creature, stumbling over the box in his tiny hands. "I can't bring it back! I don't know where Master Fu is, and I can't spend time looking for him! It's raining and no one is allowed to see me!"

Nick kept on running. "Well, that's your problem, isn't it?!" he called back.

"No, it's your problem!" The creature ducked into Nick's hood, bringing the box with him. "You stole it, you bring it back right now!"

Nick wiped some of the water off his face with his hand. "My mom is getting antsy, and if there is one thing I can't do, it's letting my family down. You're on your own, you figment of my imagination!"

"Rude! I'm very real!" The fox gripped onto Nick's shirt. "And seriously? You can't be just a little late? I'm pretty sure your family will understand getting sidetracked for once."

"If there is one thing I can't do, it's letting my family down," Nick repeated. He skidded a bit, taking a sharp turn to the next street.

"You've got some issues, man."

Nick snorted. "Yeah. For starters, some weird magical fox is talking to me. Plus the creature is hitching a ride on my sweater. I said I'm sorry for stealing, can't you go away?!"

"One, you never said sorry. Two, not until you bring me back from where you took me! Or at the very least until it stops raining…" The fox twitched his nose.

The teenager sighed, slowing his run into a walk.

"Look, I didn't mean to steal you from your magical box. I just see something locked and... I _have to_ open it and take what's inside, you know?" Nick twirled some of his lock picks in his fingers.

"No, I don't know. Cause I don't make it a habit to steal other people's possessions," bit back the fox, turning his nose away in distaste. "So are you bringing me back or not?"

Lightning clapped in the distance. Suddenly, the rain grew harsher, forcing Nick to drape his body over the box, attempting to shield it from the storm.

"Can't, it's raining and I'm already at my house."

He walked over to his front door and pushed the handle, knowing that it's unlocked. As he stepped through, he could feel the odd fox creature dig deeper into his hood, as if trying to be unseen. Nick paid him no mind.

"Niccolo! What took you so long?!" cried his mother, handing him a towel.

Nick passed the box to her. "I got… Distracted." He took the towel and wrapped it around himself, shivering a bit.

Francesca smiled, ruffling Nick's hair. "Paris sure is a beautiful city, isn't it? I'm so glad Lila really insisted on coming here! Everything is so pretty, even when it's raining!"

Nick offered a pinched smile. "Right… Lila came here for the scenery…"

"Ahh, speaking of your sister, she told me the greatest thing while you were gone!" Francesca placed the box on the dining table, offering her son a grin.

Said son froze. He raised an eyebrow.

"Did she now..?"

Francesca nodded. She rushed up to Nick and gripped onto his shoulders, shaking him a bit, but grinning all the while.

"She said you made friends with your classmates! You, Nick, made _FRIENDS_!"

Nick went stiff in her arms, gaping at his mom slightly.

"What."

His mother squealed, hugging her son. Nick felt the fox shift in discomfort in his hood, but it doesn't seem like he's going to leave any time soon.

"Lila wouldn't stop talking about how proud she is of her bro! She said you made friends with everyone, including the famous model Adrien Agreste! I'm so happy for you, Nick! You finally made friends!" she cried.

"I… Uh…"

Francesca stopped shaking her son. She frowned, staring straight into her son's brown eyes.

"You… _Did_ make friends, right?"

Nick gulped.

( _He's sooo going to make Lila pay for this._ )

"Yes. I did. I made friends," he said, faking a smile to the best of his ability.

His mother cheered, patting Nick on the back. "That's my son! You need to have them come over sometime!" She gasped. "How about invite them all to your birthday party!"

"M-My birthday party? I don't want to have a party!" Nick mentally recalled what day it is. "Plus, my birthday is in two weeks!"

She winked. "More time to get to know all your new besties, right?"

Nick groaned, messing up his hair in his hands.

"I'll think about it after I eat. Where's my mac and cheese?"

Her mom shrugged. "Oh, I think Lila ate it all."

…He's soooo going to kill Lila for this.

On his back, hiding inside his hood, Nick could feel the fox snickering at his misfortune.

* * *

 **A/N:** **While I do have a vague idea of events I want to happen, I'm not too sure where I'm going with this. I don't even know if the next chapters are going to be longer or shorter. Ah well. I just wanted to make sure I get Nick's personality down pat in this. Which hopefully I did.**


	2. Hero?

**A/N: Ahh, thank you everyone so much for the reviews, favourites, and follows! :O I didn't think anyone would read this, so all of this support makes me extremely happy! ^^**

 **Also, writing is harder than I thought :O**

 **I respect anyone who has finished any piece of writing ever.**

 **Replies to Reviews:**

 **Guest: Haha, thanks for the two thumbs up! ^^ English is not my best subject, but I do try to reread everything to make sure there aren't any blatant errors. :3 Thanks for reviewing! :D**

 **Jayla Fire Gal: Here's more! Thanks for reviewing! ^^**

* * *

Master Fu eyed the floor. The teenager who came in for Francesca Conti's package left puddles all over the shop.

The man sighed, flipping the shop's sign to 'closed'. "I'm going to fetch a mop."

"Master?" Wayzz was floating over to the counter area. "Why is it wet over here?"

Fu stepped over to where his kwami is, where only management should enter. True to his word, there were droplets of water scattered here and there, with wet patches leading right up to the shelf.

"Teenagers sure are curious these days," commented Fu. He scanned the shelf, looking for anything that may be out of place. So far, everything seems immaculate, with nothing so much as an inch out of place.

"Well, now that the shop is closed, are we going to look for a suitable wielder for the fox miraculous today?" asked Wayzz, sitting on top of the biggest box.

Fu frowned, taking a quick glance at his shop's windows. The rain seemed to be getting harsher by the minute, streams of water clashing against the transparent glass.

"I was hoping to go find a wielder the minute we closed, but it appears that Mother Nature is not cooperating with us today. Take Motto's Miraculous, we'll store it somewhere safer for the time being."

"Yes Master," said Wayzz with a nod. He went through the box. There was a pause, then the box began to vibrate.

"Wayzz?"

Without warning, the box snapped open, cover hitting against the wall behind it. Wayzz bursted through, stopping right in front of Fu's face.

"It's gone! The Fox Necklace is gone!" the kwami cried.

Fu rushed forward to inspect the locking mechanism. "What?! But the box was locked!"

He then heard a little 'plop' sound. Master Fu looked down.

His sandals had stepped on a tiny puddle, formed right on the floor in front of the box.

* * *

 _BAM! BAM! BAM!_

"Lila! Open up!" yelled Nick, pounding his knuckles against the door. The sign hanging from the doorknob, with the words /Lila's Room/ on it, shook with every knock.

"Aren't you a thief? You can easily get into my room!"

Nick scowled, jiggling the doorknob. "Not when you placed something heavy to block the door! Unless you propose I destroy the hinges?"

The fox popped his head from Nick's hood. He poked the teen's neck.

"Hey, can we talk about my problems now?"

Nick turned his glare towards his companion. "I'm a bit too busy for that!"

"What was that?" asked Lila's muffled voice from the other room.

"I said that I just wanted to talk to you!" Nick gave the door one final knock. "Why did you do all that?!"

"You mean eat your mac and cheese? I was hungry and you were gone for too long."

"Not that!" Nick then placed a hand on his chin, eyebrows furrowing. "But eat my mac and cheese again and I will tarnish your reputation everywhere. Living with you for many years has given me a ton of blackmail."

A gasp. "You _wouldn't_."

Nick shook his head. "That's not what I wanted to talk about, though. Why did you tell mom I made friends? Now she expects me to suddenly be Mr. Popular and constantly invite friends over!"

The fox shifted in place. "Is that really so much of a bad thing?"

There was a shuffling noise from the other side. Something heavy was being moved on a carpet. Then, the door opened. The fox quickly dug into Nick's hood.

"Well Nick, you really do need to socialize." Lila smiled brightly at him. "I'm just speeding up the process! We wouldn't want to let our mom down, do we?"

"You just want me to get closer to Adrien," accused Nick, pointing right at her.

Lila kept her cool, tilting her head to the side. "Guilty as charged. So what? It's our deal. You need to befriend Adrien, and I'll cover for your flaws. You making friends is one less flaw I have to deal with. I didn't do anything out line."

Nick opened his mouth. Then closed it.

"If you weren't so self-conscious about making everyone like you, you'd be a force to reckon with," he said in a monotone voice.

Lila narrowed her eyes. "Should I add blunt to your list of flaws?"

"The deal is about things that makes our parents unhappy, not about all of my flaws. I couldn't care less about my flaws, just as long as mom and dad aren't upset with them." Nick ruffled his hair. "And come on Lila… You know I don't like… _People_."

Lila shrugged. "Well, you need to socialize one of these days."

The male sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Just… Don't use my own mom against me, okay?"

Lila stared at him for a while. She then gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Sure, yeah. I'm sorry about that, Nick. Sometimes I forget how important family is to you."

Nick bit back a ' _liar_ '.

Instead, he mimicked her fake smile. "So long as you know. You're my stepsister, so you're family too." Niccolo turned away. "I'm heading to my room."

"You better invite Adrien to your birthday party in two weeks!" Lila called out.

Nick tried his best to ignore her.

"Your room is in the attic? Fancy."

The fox was floating at his side, watching Nick take a step at a time up a ladder. Nick snorted, pushing the attic panel out of the way.

"It also means that I get the biggest room in the house." He finished his trek up the ladder, then closed the panel. The fox went through it just in time.

"Up away from everyone else? Surrounded by dust and cobwebs? From what little I know of your character, it sounds like you," the fox commented, zooming around the place. He seems to be particularly transfixed at the huge detailed map of Paris taking up most of the wall.

Nick eyed the creature, his lips twisting into a frown. "So what are you, anyway? I thought you were just a sign of me going crazy, but I can feel you breathing and laughing at me when you were hiding out in my hood."

The creature gave him a salute. "The name is Motto, and I'm a kwami!"

"You're a what?"

In response to that, Motto stuck out his tongue. "A kwami. As for everything else about me, well, I'd like to think it's on a need-to-know basis," he replied.

Nick moved his face right in front of Motto, raising an eyebrow. "And I don't need to know?"

"I'd prefer it if you don't!" the fox chirped. He nestled among Nick's light brown locks of hair. "So, Freckles, you going to return me or what?"

"Don't call me Freckles," said Nick, rubbing his freckled cheeks. "And I believe that the point of stealing is to take something and never return it?"

"Technically, it's considered stealing if you take anything without permission. You can always return it." Motto dove into Nick's hood and took out the hexagon box. "So I say that after the rain blows over, you head over to Master Fu and apologize! Then you pretend that you never saw me! Sound good?"

"I wish I never saw you," mumbled Nick under his breath. He sat on his blue office chair, which rolled over to his desk. "And I can't just return you! According to yourself, stealing is a crime, even if you return it. I don't fancy getting myself into trouble."

Motto flew over to Nick's desk. "I don't think that Master Fu cares that much about troublemaking teens, as long as you actually do return me in the end. Plus, if you're oh-so paranoid, you can just leave me in front of the shop or something and run without getting caught."

"And no one would know? You wouldn't tattle on me?"

Motto grinned. "I won't tell a soul!"

Nick quirked an eyebrow, wondering how much trust he should put into an unknown magical being.

He figures he'll simply deal with it tomorrow.

* * *

The following day, Niccolo rushed through the streets. He jumped over a few puddles, always landing on his feet, before breaking into a run again.

Motto, on the other hand, was clinging onto the scruff of Nick's shirt for dear life.

"Where are you going?!" yelled the kwami, "Are you really in that big of a rush to return me?!"

"What?" called out Nick, dodging a puddle, "I'm not heading to that massage place."

"Huh? Why not?!" Motto plastered his face onto Nick's shoulder. "Why am I even here, then?! I was having a nice nap, too…"

"Hey, you didn't have to come. I'm just late for school."

"School?" Motto lifted his head up. "You mean that place where you're Mr. Popular and you have an entire entourage of friends, including some famous model?"

"Ugh…" Nick slowed his pace to brisk walking. "Don't remind me."

"I'd love to know the whole story of how you got into that mess. It sounds hilarious."

"I'd prefer it if you don't," mumbled the teen, echoing what Motto said last night. He only took a few more steps before-

CRASH!

Wisps of smoke rose into the blue-tinted sky. A roar was cried out, sound waves echoing against each building. Some people fell from the sheer power of that roar. Nick held his place, gritting his teeth.

"What kind of publicity stunt is that..?" he asked out loud, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Ooh that's no publicity stunt. This is one of Hawk Moth's akumas." Motto gripped tighter on Nick's shirt. "No wonder Master Fu wanted backup. This is ridiculous!"

The roar sounded again. It was even more powerful this time, almost throwing everyone back. Nick gripped onto a pole, his knuckles turning white.

"One of Hawk Moth's akumas, huh..?" whispered Nick.

He nodded to himself, then began to sprint. He was charging right at where the smoke was coming from. Motto gulped.

"Uh, Nick? Where are you going now..?!"

Niccolo didn't answer immediately. He rushed into the center of activity. Whenever a roar would throw everybody back, Nick either hid behind a building or clinged onto something solid. Eventually, he was in a good considerable distance away from the akuma.

"So that's the akuma?" questioned Nick, his head craning upwards. "A 30-feet tall dinosaur?"

The dinosaur was green, with button eyes and soft looking fur. It was basically a giant stuffed toy. Still, the cuddliness was contrasted against its sheer strength. It overtook a couple of buildings, using its giant tail to swipe out the bases of a few infrastructures. The dinosaur toy roared again.

"No… The dinosaur is a symptom of the akuma." Motto pointed upwards. "Up there, you see that kid? I think he holds the akuma."

Nick held a hand in front of his face to block the sunlight from blinding his eyes. Up there, he can sort of see the child. The child was sitting cross-legged on top of the dinosaur's head. His face was red, with some sort of purple butterfly motif lighting it up.

"So is that kid Hawk Moth?"

"What? No!" Motto smacked Nick upside the head. It didn't really hurt at all, since Motto was so tiny. "That's not Hawk Moth! Hawk Moth is the one controlling the kid!"

 _Ziiiip!_

A red blur bursted into the scene. They swung around the dinosaur, leaving behind a durable black string. Eventually, they skid into a stop right in front of Nick.

The red blur was female. She wore a red bodysuit with black spots all over. A symmetrical red and black mask adorns her face. The girl was clinging onto the black string, a smirk set on her lips.

Nick immediately knew that she was Ladybug.

Her blue eyes squinted in a display of happiness. "Goodnight!"

With that, she yanked the cord. The dinosaur toppled over, dragged in by force. Due to being made of plush, he must've been very light. On the ground, the monster scowled, growling at Ladybug's direction. He let out the loudest roar he possibly could.

Nick hugged a pole with all his might, however Ladybug wasn't as lucky. She accidentally let go of her cord, and the sound waves made her go flying. Just before she could hit the ground, a black figure swooped in.

"Nice of you to drop in, M'Lady," he said, catching Ladybug in his arms.

Ladybug smiled back, flipping out of his hold. "I was wondering where you were, Chat Noir. But it's no time to toy around, we got a massive toy to deal with."

The dinosaur shook off the string. Ladybug pulled on it, and the end came back. So it was a yo-yo.

Chat Noir was eyeing the creature, before his gaze shifted to the side. He froze.

"Hey, you! You need to get out of here! It's not safe!"

Nick jumped, realizing that he's talking about himself.

"Wait, what about you two?" asked Nick. Even though he asked a question, his body had already taken a few steps away from the scene.

Chat Noir brushed off his leather suit with his hand, standing up straight. "Don't sweat it, we're superheroes! Besides-"

The child screamed. "Hand over your miraculouses, Ladybug and Chat Noir!"

"-I don't think that dino would let us go, even if we do escape."

Nick shrugged, then turned around. The dinosaur roared again. Instead of resisting, the male used the sound waves to propel himself further away from the scene. Once he was in a suitable distance away from the monstrous dinosaur toy, Motto popped out of his hood.

"You're extremely late for school now," the kwami commented.

Niccolo didn't say anything. Instead, he stepped into an alley. A few twists and turns and then they were alone, with a very low chance of any bystanders passing by. The male, hands in his pockets, raised an eyebrow at his companion.

"Is everything still on a need-to-know basis?" he asked, grey eyes staring straight at Motto.

Motto shifted back a bit. "What brought this on..?"

"See, yesterday, you said that I'm some supposedly chosen one. That I'm destined to wield the fox miraculous in order to defeat Hawk Moth." As he spoke, Nick leaned his back against the brick wall.

"But… We've established that you're _not_ the chosen one," said Motto, chuckling a bit at the end. He appeared to be smiling, but at the same time he was slowly backing away.

Nick dug a hand in his hood. He pulled out the hexagon box that Motto was stashing and opened it up. The fox necklace gleamed in the sunlight. He pulled it out of the box, tossing the container into his hood.

"This is what I'm piecing together- You're some sort of guardian for the necklace. Hawk Moth has the power to make people his 'akuma' minion things, and with them he's looking for these miraculouses." Nick tilted his head to the side. "My guess is that these pieces of jewelry gives you superpowers, just like those Ladybug and Chat Noir people. They're chosen ones too. That's why Hawk Moth constantly targets them, and they use their powers to stop them. Am I wrong?"

"N-No..?" Motto crossed his arms. "What's your point?"

"I'm in middle school, and I'm willing to bet that Ladybug and Chat Noir are around my age too. It would explain why you're not at all surprised that the chosen one is so young- Why you were so willing to form a partnership with someone who's not even in High School yet. Am I correct?"

Motto shifted in place. "...You're correct."

Nick couldn't help it. He started laughing.

"The… The defenders of Paris… Are two teenagers." He snickered a bit. "Man, that's kind of funny. And extremely dangerous. Teenagers are unpredictable at best."

Motto clicked his tongue. "Hey now, Master Fu makes good choices! These two are extremely capable, and have saved the world more than you can believe!" He paused. "Wait a minute, _you're_ a teenager too!"

Nick shrugged in response. "Yeah, well anyway, the reason I interrogated you was really for my intense curiosity. I don't really care about their identities or anything. Like it's been established, I'm not the chosen one like them. I'm not a superhero, and frankly I don't ever want to be a superhero. I'm already stressed with my life as it is."

"So we're still on board with returning me?"

"I mean, what would I get out of keeping-"

" _EEEEEK! Somebody help!_ "

Motto twitched at that, immediately darting around.

"Somebody's in trouble! We should go and check it out!" he cried, zooming through the alley.

"What? In an abandoned alley?! That does not sound like a good idea!" Still, Nick rushed after him, shoving the necklace into his pocket.

They darted through the twists and turns of the alleyways. Nick's light footsteps hit against cobblestone, until eventually they came to a stop. He stuck his head out at the corner. Right before the entrance of the alley, there stood two figures on the sidewalk.

The smaller one was a girl about his age. She had honey blond hair tied into a ponytail. Her hands were gripping on the straps of a white purse. On the other side was a larger man. He had a bigger build, and his face was covered by a ski mask.

The man spoke, voice muffled by the mask. "Your attempts at taking your purse back amuses me," he said, lightly pulling the bag with one arm.

"That purse is a Gabriel Original!" cried the girl, tugging harder. "Do you know who my daddy is?! He can call Ladybug and Chat Noir in an instant, and they'll teach you a lesson!"

"Ladybug and Chat Noir? Don't make me laugh. They're too busy dealing with an akuma right now- why would they care about you?"

The man gave one harsh pull of the purse. This caused the girl to stumble into the alley, letting go of the bag.

She screeched. "My nails! Ugh, this is so not worth it! I'm going to just buy a new one!"

The blonde girl made a move to leave, but the man immediately blocked her path.

"Oh, hold up there." The man cracked his knuckles. "I'm not done with you."

"Ugh, what do you want?!" yelled the girl. Still, even with that annoyed statement, she was slowly backing away.

Motto pulled on Nick's shirt. " _You got to do something!_ " he whispered in Nick's ear, " _That girl is going to be in serious trouble!_ "

Nick turned towards him, wide-eyed. " _Are you kidding?!_ " he hissed, " _That guy is twice my size! I rather not get involved, thank you very much._ "

" _Well, fine then! If you're not going to do anything, then I will,_ " said Motto.

Nick raised an eyebrow. "What can you possibly do?"

Motto flew off to the roof of the building. Nick couldn't see him anymore. The male, furrowing his eyebrows, decided to peek over the corner to see what's happening.

The man appeared to still be talking, inching closer to the girl. "Everyone is sick of your attitude. I bet even Ladybug and Chat Noir hate you! Everyone knows that you caused the most akuma attacks in all of Paris!"

"What!" She scoffed. "Ridiculous, everyone adores me! Just ask my daddy-"

"And where's your daddy now, huh?!" He pulled up the purse higher. "Can you call him now, without your cell phone? Will anyone ever come to your call?!"

"Ugh, you're going to get in so much trouble for this!"

The curves on the ski mask suggested that the man was grinning.

"Oh, not in as much trouble as you'll soon- ACK!"

Nick watched as Motto discreetly yanked the man's ski mask off. The kwami darted around the corner before he could be spotted. The man pushed strands of shaggy brown hair out of his face. His blue eyes were scanning every spot of the ground.

"Where did my mask go?!" he yelled, eyebrows scrunched together.

"Ha!" The girl pointed at him. "I know how you look like now! Have fun rotting in jail!"

The man snorted, slapping the girl's hand away. "Oh yeah? And who says you'll be in any condition to identify me?" He advanced further.

Nick watched as Motto came back to him. He frowned at the kwami.

"Looks like your plan didn't do much," he said, one arm leaning against the brick wall.

Motto grinned at him. "Oh, I'm not done."

In a quick movement, Motto dashed into Nick's pockets and pulled out a very special device.

"Huh?" questioned Nick, "What are you going to do with my-"

 **CLICK!**

"-phone." He gaped at the fox. "You did not."

Motto grinned. He took another picture of the scene before them, making sure that both the sound and the flash was on.

 **CLICK!**

The man perked up, head snapping in their direction. "What the-?!"

Motto took in a deep breath. "I'M TAKING THESE PICTURES TO THE POLICE!" he yelled.

"Motto!" cried Nick, reaching his hands out to silence the kwami.

The fox merely tossed the phone in Nick's open hands. Then, he smiled, showing off all his teeth.

"Run."

Just as Motto took refuge in Nick's sweater, the man had ran up to the corner. His eyes zoned in right at Nick's face.

"You," he said, a hiss in his voice.

Nick didn't waste any time. He booked it out of there.

Footsteps slapped against pavement in a thundering staccato. Nick could barely hear the rasping breaths and the cursed remarks from the person chasing him- he was too preoccupied simply getting out of there. The teen leaped over puddles and pushed trash cans in the way in order to slow the man down. It helped a bit. Unfortunately, the man was still hot on his trail.

Eventually, the two had moved from the alleys into a semi-deserted street. Nick could feel both his lungs and his legs burning. In the distance, there appears to be an abandoned warehouse. Nick kicked the door open, shut it behind himself, then fled inside. Rows of cardboard boxes greeted him. He chose a random one then jumped in.

 **SLAM!**

The doors were kicked open again. Nick pressed his hands against his mouth, trying to even out his panting. A bundle of rope, which appeared to have been in the box before he entered, dug into his side.

"WHERE ARE YOU, BOY?!" Nick heard the sounds of empty boxes being kicked. "I know you're around here! Come out, and I might go easy on you!"

There was more shuffling noises, until the surroundings became oddly silent.

Motto peeked his head out from the hood. "Man, that was scary."

Nick glared at him. " _Sh-Shush,_ " he panted, trying to keep his voice low and steady.

After a few minutes, the kwami floated to the top of the box. "Want me to check if he's still there?"

It was sort of far off, but there came the sound of someone ripping a box apart.

"WHEN I FIND YOU, IT WON'T BE PLEASANT!"

That sentence echoed through the warehouse. Nick shivered, still glaring at the kwami.

Motto clicked his tongue. "Yep, he's still out there. Kind of far, though. This warehouse feels pretty big, so we're safe to talk if we keep it low."

"I hate you."

"I figured, but think about it. It was either you or that poor innocent girl. It's a hero's job to help out, even at the cost of their own life, you know?"

"I'm no hero." Nick squirmed in his fetal position, limbs sore all around. "Like I said, I don't want to be a hero. Leave it to the other crazy teenagers."

"Well, unlucky for you, I'm too used to helping out those who needs it with my wielder. The chosen ones have always been good people like that."

Nick blinked. "Chosen ones… Hawk Moth isn't a chosen one, is he?"

"Heck no," hissed Motto. "We're not too sure who he is or how he got the butterfly miraculous, but I bet poor Nooroo is suffering from the consequences."

"Hawk Moth is using a miraculous?" Nick placed a hand on his chin. It was an awkward movement, since he was cramped inside the box. "And conceivably, if he takes Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous, he can use them too?"

"Yes?" Motto tilted his head to the side. "Why would he want to take them if he can't use it himself?"

"So you don't have to be a chosen one to use the miraculous." Nick grinned. "Alright then. Give me superpowers."

"What!" Motto shook his head. "I thought you didn't want to be a hero!"

The man's voice growled from the outside. "I HEARD THAT! So you're around here, aren't you?!" His footsteps were starting to wander in their general area. Nick gritted his teeth.

"I don't, but I do have an invested interest of not getting killed." Nick nudged his head to the general direction of where he thought the man was. "Unless you, a helper of superheroes, wants an innocent middle school student to die from something that had nothing to do with them?"

Motto growled. "Wear the necklace."

Nick immediately perked up. He dug his hand into his jean pockets and pulled out the miraculous. It was a little difficult to put it on in such a cramped space, but he managed to do so anyway.

"Wearing," replied Nick.

"I'll make this brief. In the suit, you naturally get enhanced speed, agility, and strength. You'll almost be invulnerable from physical attacks. You also get a flute that can cast illusions. Got it?"

 _BAM BAM!_

The boxes near them were kicked to the wall.

" _I don't have time to understand it, let's just do it!_ " hissed Nick.

"Alright, alright! All you need to do to transform is to say _Foxtrot_."

"Got it! Motto, Foxtrot!"

The fox miraculous gleamed. Motto seemed to spiral, before he got sucked into the miraculous. It gleamed again, flashing with five gold lines across it.

Nick closed his eyes, letting the light consume him. He felt the glow span across his entire body. From his face, to the top of his head, to the bottom of his feet.

The teenager jumped out of the box. Craning his head up, he came face to face with the man he had been hiding from.

"There you-!" The man took a step back. He clenched his fists so hard, blood had begun trickling out. "Who the heck are you?!"

Nick grinned, giddy that the man does not recognize him.

"Just an innocent civilian," he said, showing off a bright smile.

The teen took a quick look at his outfit. It was definitely fox-themed. Mainly orange, hints of white, with brown gloves and boots. There was this long brown scarf around his neck. The middle part trailed on his back, clipped by his belt. Though the ends extended up to before his ankles. It's orange and white at the tip, meaning that it's probably supposed to be a tail.

"Don't play with me, kid. You're hiding that other punk who took my photos. Just give me the phone, and I'll only rough you up a little bit for wasting my time."

Nick's fox ears drooped.

"I'm not a kid!" Nick pulled out the flute that was clipped to his belt. "Now you better go, this fox is not afraid to bite."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Don't underestimate me."

He pulled his arm back. Nick yelped. He threw his arms in front of his face, just in time, before the man struck a punch. The teen flew backwards, landing on his back.

Nick then sat up, bewildered. "Almost invulnerable is right. That barely hurt..!"

The man ran up to launch a kick. Nick rolled over, then performed a handstand to get back on his feet. He pulled the flute to his lips.

" _How about a little illusion to get you off my back,_ " Nick whispered to himself. He blew into the flute.

 **ScREeeEeEEEccCHhhh…**

Silence. Both people stared at the flute.

The man snorted. "Real charming. Don't bring a flute to a fight. Especially when you can't even play it."

Without warning, the man was right in front of Nick again. He gutted his knee into Nick's stomach. The teen fell back, wincing. His hands accidentally let go of the flute.

Nick coughed. "You're a jerk."

"You'd want to hurt Chloe Bourgeois too if you knew how evil that child is." The man gripped onto Nick's neck. He then slammed the teen's body against the wall. "Honestly, I'm doing Paris a favour. Now, you can take the easy way by telling me where's that kid with the photos. I'd actually leave you be and pretend this fight has never happened."

The teen responded to that with a kick into the man's stomach. The man faltered back a bit, loosening his grip a tad. That was enough for Nick to extract himself out of there. He fell to the floor, right next to his flute.

"Oh," said the man. His eyes were wide, showing soulless blue, along with a grin showing much too many teeth. "You want this the hard way."

The man stepped closer.

Nick's hands reached the flute at his side.

He gripped on it.

Just before the man could bring his foot to Nick's face, Nick pulled the flute once more to his lips. He breathed in as much air as he possibly could.

 **SCREEEECH!**

"Agh!" cried the man. He flinched, hands instinctively to his ears.

Nick used that opportunity to grip both hands on the flute like a bat. With a large swing, he bonked the flute onto that man's head.

The man fell unconscious.

Nick's shallow breaths were the only thing heard in the warehouse. He looked over to his flute.

"Well, that's one way to use a flute."

Nick pocketed the instrument into his belt and looked around. Soon, he located the box that he hid in earlier. Taking a peek inside, he spotted the length of rope.

With the man all tied up and the purse recovered, Nick smiled at himself, proud.

He then froze.

"Wait, how do I de-transform?"

* * *

Nick took the cellphone from the purse and used the emergency call to phone the police about the unconscious man. After that deed was done, the teen figured that he wasn't going to transform back anytime soon. So he took the purse and decided to return it to its owner.

With his super agility, super strength, and super speed, it was a breeze. The teen jumped from building to building, admiring Paris from an aerial view.

To his surprise, right in front of Collège Françoise Dupont, he spotted who he was looking for. The girl with blonde hair, light blue eyes, and evident makeup on her face. She was standing near the staircase, scowling at the school.

Nick jumped over the staircase, then sat on the railing.

"Hello!" he greeted.

The girl jumped. She then stared at Nick, one eyebrow raised.

"Who are you supposed to be? Some sort of superhero wannabe?" she questioned, rolling her eyes.

Nick shook his head. "Nope! Not a hero." He smiled, handing over the girl's bag. "Got your purse back from the bad guy, though."

"Finally!" She snatched the white purse from his hand. "My nails were ruined because of him! While my nails are much better than everyone else at school, I couldn't go in being less than perfect!" The girl pulled out a nail file from her bag.

Nick stared at her, before shrugging. "Yeah okay."

He back flipped out of there, still reveling in the fact that he's just so flexible and athletic now. Nick couldn't stop grinning. The male glanced over to the windows of the school. They displayed the classes, all in session…

He's _so_ late for school.

Nick's jerk reaction was to skip classes, just like he always did. Then he remembered the deal he made with Lila and the lie he told his mother. If he skips classes, it may be difficult to invite them to his birthday party.

He looked over at his outfit. There must be some switch, some sort of fold to pull on or-

The necklace seem to gleam at him.

Nick hid behind a tree, then gently took the miraculous in his hand. He pulled it out from around his neck.

That appeared to do the trick. The light went through his body, reverting it back to its normal clothing. Motto flew out of the miraculous. The fox laid on the floor, panting.

"Just in case you're wondering, to transform back, you have to say _fox stop_ ," he mumbled. "So hungry…"

Nick put on the necklace once more. He crouched over to Motto.

"So the energy from transforming makes you tired and hungry?" he asked, taking the kwami into his hands.

Motto yawned. "Yep. So anyway, how did it feel like being a hero? Did it change your mind about how awesome they are?"

"I still don't want to be a hero," replied Nick with a shrug.

"Fine… I guess it's not for everyone." Motto attempted to stretch a bit. "Just feed me some potato chips, return the miraculous to Master Fu, then forget this all happened. It's for the best."

Motto rubbed his eyes, plotting to fall asleep again, until he froze. He turned back to Nick, who hasn't replied.

The fox kwami scrunched up his nose. "Uh, Nick? You okay?"

Niccolo smiled back.

"Why should I return the fox miraculous?"

* * *

 **A/N: Well then.**

 **This chapter was so long I was going to split it into two, but I really wanted to end it like this so people would have a good idea as to what the story is going to be about... kinda. I have a rough outline now, but I don't know if I'll stick to it or stray.**


	3. Social Interaction

**A/N: Admittedly I'm... Very nervous about publishing this chapter. That's why I've been putting it off for many months. I don't even know why I'm so unhappy with this chapter. But if I don't publish this, the story would've been on permanent hiatus so... *shrugs*. Carpe diem?**

* * *

Inside the school, Niccolo inserted some coins into the vending machine.

"So?" he asked his kwami, tapping the glass of the machine, "Which chips do you want?"

Motto, from his place in Nick's hood, scowled at him. "...Ketchup."

"Are you purposely trying to go against me? There aren't any ketchup chips here."

"Maybe _I am_ trying to go against you," came the whiny reply. Then there was a pause. "...Original."

"That's more like it." Nick pressed the appropriate button. A bag of chips fell from the metallic coil into the slot below. He picked it up.

Motto huffed. "I still want an explanation."

Nick hummed in response, pretending to be too focused tugging the chip bag folds to answer. He finally opened it, letting the salty aroma waft through the air.

"So why couldn't I use any illusions?" Nick asked nonchalantly, shaking the bag. "That robber mocked me when I tried to play that stupid flute."

"Do you know how to play a flute?"

"No..?"

"Then there you have it." Motto dove into the bag of chips.

Nick scrunched up his nose, bringing the plastic closer to his face. "Seriously? So I have to learn how to play the flute in order to make some illusions?"

"Well, you have to know how to play any instrument. Magic takes care of the rest." Motto shoved a couple of chips into his mouth. "Ladybug didn't have to be some professional yo-yo player and Chat Noir didn't have to be some amazing staff wielder. As long as Ladybug had actually played with a yo-yo before and Chat Noir fiddled with a pencil or something, magic made their skills improve a lot."

The teen sighed, ruffling his hair with one hand.

"But I'm guessing playing a flute is preferable?"

"Oh, definitely. Especially if you want to catch up to Ladybug and Chat Noir's current level."

Nick clicked his tongue. "Great…" He shook his head. "Well, I'll think about it in class."

He walked to the staircase. Motto peeked over the plastic bag, watching Nick march up the stairs. After Motto finished eating half the bag of chips, the kwami spoke up.

"I really want to know what made you change your mind. You said you were going to return the miraculous."

Nick stopped. He was only a couple of steps away from his classroom.

"Can't I randomly change my mind?" he asked, shoving the hand that isn't holding chips into his pocket.

Motto narrowed his eyes at him. "Was it really random?"

At first, Nick didn't respond. It was quiet for a little while. Motto figured that Nick was going to ignore him and simply move on, but to his surprise, Nick opened his mouth.

"Human beings are constantly bound by the rules. I'm not just talking about being unable to murder or steal. Humans don't have super strength, or super speed, or invulnerability. They don't have magic."

"So… You're in it for the powers?"

Nick shook his head. "Powers are a bonus. I can see their uses, but that type of life is not for me. I don't really need them. What I'm more focused about…" He smirked. "Is the costume."

Motto stared at him. "...What? You like dressing up as a fox? I mean, foxes are amazing, but I'm sure you can just buy a costume yourself-"

Nick poked Motto in the forehead.

"No," he scolded, making sure his voice is low so that no class overhears. "I'm more interested in the _magic_ the costume provides. Ladybug and Chat Noir have been heroes long enough to make a name for themselves, yet still no one knows their identities. I've been hopping around Paris like a madman, and still no one seemed to pinpoint any information about me. They can't even tell what general age I am. It's like I'm a blank slate."

"Didn't you recently move to Paris?" asked Motto, crinkling the chip bag. "Aren't you already a blank slate?"

"My family knows who I am. I lingered around my parents for a while, and still they didn't recognize me." Nick grinned. "Don't you get it? I'm almost like a ghost. I can do whatever I want to do without fear of the consequences. No more worrying about what my family would think of me if I get caught- The magic will make sure no one will figure out who I am."

"You de-transform if your miraculous gets taken away from you," piped in Motto. "Or if you use up your power."

Nick shrugged. "It's still better than a non-magic costume. Normal masks are flimsy. You're tiny yet you still managed to take off that robber's mask."

"Well yes, but… Still..." The kwami trailed off.

Nick continued. "With this miraculous, I actually have a choice without the burden of my identity. I can do whatever I want without anyone attached to me suffering for it."

Motto gripped tightly on the chip he was holding.

"That's a stupid reason," he declared.

"I don't care. This is what I want."

"The Miraculouses aren't meant to be used for evil."

Nick scoffed. "Well, that sure didn't stop Hawk Moth, did it?"

"Niccolo. Hawk Moth isn't someone you want to be." Motto looked right at teen's face. "Just… What exactly are you going to do..?"

Nick crinkled the bag.

"Hurry and finish your chips. I need to get to class."

* * *

When Nick opened the classroom door, his teacher waved.

"Welcome to the classroom, Niccolo. You made it just in time for lunch break," the teacher greeted, leaning against the blackboard.

Nick winced. He eyed the nearest tablet to him, owned by a guy with a blue shirt, headphones, and a red cap. His tablet displayed the time loud and clear- four minutes before lunch.

The teen grimaced. "Sorry, uh, I was on my way to school when a fire hydrant broke down causing massive spills all over the city so I had to take a huge detour."

Miss Bustier raised an eyebrow at him. "If you got caught up in the akuma attack, you could just say so. You don't have to make such a ridiculous lie."

Nick stared at her blankly. "Oh… Right. The akuma attack. That's why I'm late."

Miss Bustier crossed her arms. For a while, Nick thought he was going to get scolded, before a defeated sigh broke out.

"It's fine, you're not the only one who got caught up in it." She gave a pointed stare at most of the people in the front part of the class. There was a sheepish smile by a blonde male in the front row and nervous laughter from a girl in pigtails. The snobby blonde haired girl, whom Nick didn't even realize was in this class, scoffed loudly.

"I'll take a seat," mumbled Nick to himself. Keeping his head down, he shuffled over to his seat and sat.

Since there wasn't much time left, Miss Bustier merely went over what was taught in the last hour. Nick wasn't paying much attention. He had his eyes digging holes onto his desk, eyebrows furrowed.

When the four minutes were up and the lunch bell rang, Rose bounced over to him. Juleka followed close behind.

"What are you thinking about, friend?" chimed Rose, propping her elbows on the desk.

Nick flinched. He turned towards her with wide eyes. "Me?"

"Yeah you!" Rose offered him a big smile.

Nick blinked. "Oh. We're friends..?"

The blue-eyed girl laughed. "Of course, silly! Didn't we have fun yesterday?"

Nick's wrist could still feel the phantom pains of being dragged all over the school. Still, he remembered chuckling at a few jokes, being intrigued at Rose's enthusiasm and at Juleka's creative view of the world. It wasn't all bad.

"Yes, it was kind of fun..?" Nick shrugged. "Is that all it takes to make friends?"

Nick entertained the idea of dragging Adrien somewhere to become friends.

"Sure, why not?!" exclaimed Rose.

Juleka nudged her. "It depends on the person. I wouldn't advise it. Some people aren't as happy-go-lucky as Rose."

Nick's face fell. Right. Dragging Adrien would probably be seen as kidnapping- Probably not a typical friendship activity.

"Making friends is hard…" mumbled Nick to himself, staring at the window.

Juleka placed her hands in her pockets. "Is that what's got you all preoccupied? New kid worries?"

"Hey, don't worry! I bet there are tons of people at school that share your interests!" Rose clapped her hands. "We can introduce you!"

Nick paled. "N-No! I'm good. I rather not socialize with any more people." He scratched his cheek. "So uh… Does this mean I can stick with you guys..?"

"Of course!" Rose sighed a breath of relief. "For a second there, I thought you didn't like us. Now come on, let's head to lunch!"

Nick nodded. "Right."

The male stood up, swinging his messenger bag around his shoulder. The trio walked out of the classroom. Rose chatted about Scrapbooking Club and new perfumes, Juleka talked about some cool new makeup tutorials she found online, while Nick stayed perfectly silent. He was content with simply listening to them.

When they found a table and pulled out their lunches, Juleka spoke up again.

"You did look really troubled in class, though." Juleka opened the container holding her sandwich. "Did something happen while you were running late?"

Rose gasped. "Was the akuma so scary that it traumatized you?! We didn't get the chance to see it!"

Nick stared at them. When it finally dawned on him that they were talking to him, he immediately shook his head. "No, uh… It was just a kid with a giant plush dinosaur. Are all akumas like that?"

"Not really," answered Juleka, "Every akuma has a different power. Most of them are straightforward supervillains who still look mostly human."

"Ooh, but some aren't straightforward at all." Rose took a sip of orange juice. "Remember Volpina, that fox superheroine from yesterday? It turns out that she was actually an akuma! Good thing Ladybug and Chat Noir are good at what they do. I would've never guessed!"

"Fox superheroine?" repeated Nick, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah! Hold on, I'll pull up a picture," said Rose, typing something quickly on her phone.

Juleka turned towards Nick. "Some people say that Lila is Volpina. I think she's actually still insisting that she's the great descendant of a fox superheroine. Who knows if it's true."

At the mention of Lila, Nick froze.

Rose gasped. "Lila? You mean the girl who flew in Prince Ali's private jet? How lucky! I would love to have a life as exciting as hers!" The girl tilted her head to the side. "Actually, Nick, she's a new kid like you. What a huge coincidence, two new Italian students! Do you two know each other?"

"Nope. Italy has over 60 million people. It's a coincidence," came Nick's instant reply. "Anyway, weren't you searching up Volpina?"

Rose perked up. "Oh, right, here!" She displayed her phone in front of Nick. Nick took the phone in his hands, frowning.

Akumas must have the same magic costumes as miraculous wielders. That's the first thing Niccolo realized, as it took a while for him to recognize his own step sister. When he did, it felt like something clicked inside his head. Lila and Volpina are definitely the same person- Same hair, eyes, height, jawline…

"Why is her akumatized form a fox superheroine?" wondered Nick out loud. He spared a glance at his messenger bag, where Motto was hiding, but obviously he wouldn't pop out just to answer him in public.

Juleka scoffed. "Who knows what Hawk Moth is thinking," came her sharp response. It was so cold that Nick winced a bit. He shot her a bewildered look.

Rose giggled, slinging an arm over Juleka's shoulder. "She's just upset because her akumatized form looked like a bright pink clown. I was a weird green-skinned perfume wielding akuma."

"Both of you have been akumatized?"

The duo nodded. Rose spoke. "It happens whenever you're alone, have negative emotions, no hope, and want something. This black butterfly flutters over, you hear Hawk Moth's voice in your head, then when you accept his demands he evilizes you and changes your clothes."

Nick stared at the two in silence.

Rose giggled. "What? Do you think we're kidding?"

"Um…" said Nick, blinking repeatedly. "I don't know what to answer to that."

"Heh, well enough being side-tracked," piped in Juleka. "What's bothering you? Hopefully it's nothing to get akumatized over."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Is that why you're so determined? It's not that big of a deal. I was thinking about learning how to play an instrument. Preferably the flute. But I'm not sure if full lessons are worth it- or even where to start."

"Flutes are lovely! I love flutes!" exclaimed Rose, clapping her hands. "And if you need some quick tips, I'm sure Ivan will help you out!"

"Ivan?"

Juleka nudged Rose. "It's supposed to be a secret, remember?"

Rose placed her hands on her mouth. "Whoops! Uhh…" She lowered her hands. "You won't tell anyone, right?"

Nick tilted his head to the side. "I'm not exactly sure what I'm not supposed to tell."

" _That Ivan plays the flute,_ " whispered Rose. "He learned it to impress Mylène. He's pretty good at it, too. But Kim or Chloé would definitely tease him about it, so it's a secret!"

Niccolo scrunched up his nose. "I literally don't know who any of those people are."

"They're all in our class," explained Juleka, "Ivan sits in front of you."

Nick tried to recall his classes. Unfortunately, all he can remember was sleeping, daydreaming, or basically being late to his class. Everyone's faces were a blur. He very rarely paid attention to people, so it's hard to start now. He hadn't even checked which student was Adrien Agreste, and that's just a quick internet search away.

"I'll keep an eye out for Ivan," said Nick, fiddling with his fork. "What is he like? Do you think he'll give me a few pointers?"

Rose was bouncing in her seat. "Ivan is great! He's always in touch with his emotions and always likes to lend out a helping hand. Mylène even says that he's super sweet and romantic!"

"Mylène is Ivan's girlfriend," added Juleka for Nick's benefit.

"Huh." Nick nodded to himself. "Okay. Okay sure. This can't be too hard. I'll just… Try and talk to him after school." While his tone is light, Nick couldn't help but scrunch up his face in distaste.

"Something wrong?" asked Rose, "You look like you just ate something sour. Do you want us to talk to Ivan for you?"

"It's fine, my lunch tasted funny for a second," lied Nick, looking away. "And thanks for the offer, but I can talk to him myself. Get some proper experience in socializing. Piece of cake."

* * *

Niccolo was screaming on the inside. This wasn't going to be a piece of cake.

The person sitting in front of him was large, bulky, and tall. In fact, this middle schooler was the tallest kid in class. He wore a black t-shirt with two crossing bones, had a tuft of dyed blond hair, and possessed a scowl on his face.

" _In touch with his emotions and likes to lend out a helping hand,_ " mumbled Nick, " _If by emotions she meant anger and lending a hand she meant a punch to the face, I can see what she means._ "

His seatmate turned to look at him. "Did you say something?" he asked, twirling the pencil in his hand.

Nick jumped a bit in his seat, then hastily shook his head no. "J-Just talking to myself."

The redhead stared for a bit, before nodding and returning to his work. Not schoolwork. This guy was neglecting the worksheet and instead is doodling around the margins.

Niccolo looked over to his own worksheet. To be fair, he hasn't even touched it. Maybe working on some mind numbingly simple math equations can ease his mind. He reached over to his bag to grab a pencil, until a thought occurred to him. Maybe the person in front of him wasn't even Ivan. He doesn't seem the flute type. Perhaps it's all a misunderstanding.

Nick decided to check just in case. He nudged his desk partner.

" _What's the name of the guy in front of us?_ " he whispered.

" _Ivan,_ " the redhead whispered back.

" _...Oh._ " Nick inwardly cursed.

His desk partner scanned him with blue eyes. "Why did you want to know?"

"Uhh…" Nick's fingers tapped the desk in concentration. He looked at his hand. "I needed to borrow a pencil from him."

"You could've borrowed one of mine," offered the redhead, handing over one of his spare pencils.

"Right, I just uh, didn't want to bother you. But I guess I did anyway. Since I had to bother you in order to ask you for that guy's name. And now I'm further bothering you with this conversation." Nick winced, hastily taking the offered pencil and facing his test. "I'll shut up now."

The redhead looked like he was about to say something, but the teacher cut in.

"Nathaniel! Niccolo! I do hope you two are working on your worksheets," she said, crossing her arms.

"Yes Miss Bustier," answered his seat partner, whose name is Nathaniel apparently. He focused his attention on the paper in front of him.

Nick sighed a bit in relief.

* * *

Ten minutes before school ended, Nick couldn't help it. He raised his hand.

Miss Bustier walked over to him. The class was supposed to be working on some more worksheets, but most of them are merely chatting with friends, waiting for the day to end.

"Yes Niccolo?" she asked, offering a friendly smile.

"May I be excused?"

"For what?"

Nick ruffled his hair. "Uhh… Washroom?"

Miss Bustier glanced at the clock. "There's only ten minutes left of school…"

"I'll be quick. I've already finished my work."

The teacher raised an eyebrow. "This is due the day after tomorrow."

"...Does that mean I'm not excused?"

Miss Bustier took Nick's paper, scanning it with a critical eye. "Well, as long as you return back to class. No student of mine is leaving school early."

"Thanks," said Nick. He grabbed his messenger bag and booked it out of there before anyone could question him.

He didn't lie. Nick went straight to the washroom. He opened the door and to his relief, it's empty. The teen wandered over to the sinks, turned the faucet on, and splashed a bit of water on his face.

"I could just learn how to play the triangle," said Nick to himself. "I bet I can play a mean triangle. I'd impress everyone with my newfound mad triangle skills. Who needs a flute anyway?"

"You know what I've noticed?"

Nick yelped. He whirled his head around, looking for the source of the voice, until he spotted Motto hanging from his messenger bag.

The teen relaxed his shoulders. "Oh, it's just you."

"I noticed that you talk to yourself a lot." Motto placed a hand on his chin. "Is that your substitute for human interaction?"

"For someone who's a partner for superheroes, you're surprisingly not very nice," said Nick. He grabbed some paper towels to wipe his face from water.

"For someone who said they'd return the miraculous back to Master Fu, you're surprisingly not returning it," countered Motto.

Niccolo sighed, running a hand through his messy brown hair. "I'm not going to kill someone or try to take over the world with your miraculous, if that's what you're worried about."

Motto scoffed. "As reassuring as that is, I'm more concerned about Ladybug and Chat Noir. I could be giving them a helping hand right now instead of wasting my time with… Whatever you're planning to do."

"If Ladybug can waste time humiliating my step sister twice, I'm sure she isn't too busy." Nick pulled out his phone to check the time. "Six minutes until school ends. Great. Maybe I shouldn't talk to him today."

Motto snickered. "I'm actually excited to see you interact with this Ivan guy. If it's anything as awkward as that conversation with the person sitting next to you-"

"Ugh, you heard that?" Nick scowled at his kwami. "You were so quiet in class that I was hoping you were sleeping. Or dead."

"Nope. Very awake and alive." Motto wiggled his tail, as if that proves how conscious he is. "Want to know the best way to talk to people?"

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're helping me now?"

Motto shrugged. "I can't help helping people. Especially for people as lost as you are." Nick scowled at that. The fox floated over by the sink and sat on the edge. "The answer is charisma, by the way."

"...Charisma."

Niccolo's tone was flat. He was facing the door, hands in his pockets, shoulders slouched. However, his brown eyes kept flickering over to Motto, and he was responding to his words. The kwami knew he's got Nick's full attention.

Motto smirked. "Yep. Confident, genuinely listening, smiling, pleasant eye-contact... You can charm so many people off the bat."

"Yeah, uh, no." Nick leaned his forearm against the sink edge next to Motto. "Have you seen that Ivan guy? I'm pretty sure he's more standoffish than I am. He can probably see through me and snap my neck in an instant!"

"I really doubt a middle schooler can snap your neck." Motto waved his paw. "And please- Tough guy, weak guy, smart guy, meek guy- they're all human in the end. They all share the same basics of conversation. Just be genuine without oversharing, confident but not too cocky, and don't forget to smile."

Nick deadpanned at him.

"That sounds exhausting and stupid. I'll just use your advice as a last resort."

Motto sighed, shaking his head.

"I am so unappreciated in my time."

* * *

Nick managed to reach class with two minutes left of school. Most of his classmates were packing up, and their chattering has gotten louder. He slipped into his seat, next to a startled Nathaniel. He looked like he was expecting Nick to skip class. Nick wishes that were the case.

"Nick!"

Nick glanced to the right to see an enthusiastic Rose bouncing over to him. It was just her this time. On the other side of the classroom, Juleka appears to be talking to a short girl with blond dreadlock hair dyed in green, blue, and magenta.

"Rose," greeted Nick, scratching his cheek.

She cupped a hand to the side of her mouth. " _You're going to talk to Ivan, right? You can do it at his locker if you're discreet about the whole flute thing. Me and Juleka are going to distract Mylène in the meantime so that you won't get interrupted,_ " she whispered, making sure only the two of them can hear.

Niccolo paled. "W-Woah there, you did not have to go through the trouble of-"

Rose giggled. "It's fine! Anything for a friend!" She hushed her voice again. " _You're totally going to play for me and Juleka once you get super good, right?_ " She grinned. "I can't wait!"

Rose skipped away towards Juleka, leaving Nick alone.

"Well now I can't back out of this conversation." Nick turned towards his messenger bag, where Motto was hiding. "I feel both honoured and used somehow. Does that make sense?"

The kwami inside the bag snorted in reply.

The bell rang.

Niccolo tried to be as discreet as possible, joining most of the class on their trek towards their lockers. He couldn't tell which feeling was stronger; the feeling of dread at social interaction, or the feeling of anxiety at social interaction.

" _I can't back out, I need those illusion powers. Plus, if I can't even talk to one normal guy, how am I supposed to fulfill Lila's deal and talk to a popular guy..?_ " whispered Niccolo to himself. He leaned over to his messenger bag. "Wish me luck, Motto."

A muffled scoff resonated from the backpack. "I'm the wrong kwami for that."

"You are definitely not helping," said Nick. There were a stare or two from people noticing that he's talking to himself, but most of the students in the locker area aren't paying attention.

The teen took a deep breath. He marched over to where Ivan was standing.

Ivan had his locker open, tapping his fingers against the metal. He was frequently scanning the area, probably waiting for somebody. So when Niccolo approached, Ivan immediately noticed him.

"What," said Ivan.

Nick froze up. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

There was silence for a moment. Ivan frowned at him. "Are you okay?"

"Flute," squeaked Nick, before wincing. He then straightened himself up. "Can you- Oh wait. Yes, I'm okay. Thanks for asking." He coughed in his sleeve. "So uh… Can you… Can you play the flute."

Ivan tensed up. He looked left and right, but no one is paying attention to them. He turned back to Nick, leaning a bit towards him.

" _Why are you asking that?_ " he harshly whispered. In Nick's opinion, it was just as loud as a normal speaking voice.

"I was thinking about playing the flute, and I figured I could get some tips…" Nick trailed off.

"Hmph." Ivan turned back to his locker. "Well I don't play the flute. Ask the music teacher." He slammed the locker shut.

Nick winced. Ivan looked ready to leave.

(What to do now? Grovel and beg?)

Niccolo felt something nudge him. It was Motto, nudging him from inside his messenger bag.

(Oh right, charisma.)

(How does one charisma again?)

Nick straightened himself up. He took a deep breath, relaxed a few tense facial muscles, then forced a smile.

"I can't really ask a music teacher. They'd probably force me to take music class like everyone else and to be honest I don't want too many people knowing I'm learning how to play the flute." Nick mentally double-checked his smile, while still forcing himself to keep eye-contact. "I can't hire an instructor either, I don't want to waste too much money on this. So any help you got would be really useful. If not, I understand."

Nick kept the relaxed body posture, keeping the palms of his hands up. He remembered his mother telling him that palms up suggest friendliness or something.

The expression on Ivan shifts. He puffed out one cheek. "Well… I know how you feel about not wanting too many people to know you play flute."

Nick bit the inside of his cheek, stopping himself from saying ' _Nah, you don't want to get teased, and I don't want to have a potential connection to my miraculous self. We have two extremely different feelings here._ '

"Mhm," Nick says instead.

"So…" Ivan shuffles in place a bit. He offers a shy smile. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to teach you some basics. Mylène has been saying I should socialize more."

"You and me both," blurted out Nick before he could stop himself. He shakes his head. "I mean- thank you so much. I really appreciate it!" Niccolo forced a grin. Ivan didn't look half as scary when he's smiling.

"Ivan, hey!"

Nick dropped his grin, glad that Ivan was going to be distracted so that he could slip out. Until Nick realized that the person calling Ivan was approaching from behind him.

A short girl with a pink headband ran up to Ivan. She gave a quick hug to him, making him blush slightly and hug back. Niccolo tried to discreetly move away from the duo. However, the girl took notice of him and smiled.

"Hello!" she exclaimed. "I'm Mylène. I'm in your class."

Nick nodded. Then, he realized he couldn't run away. Ivan may take it the wrong way and not give him flute tips. He offered a pinched smile.

"I'm Nick. I'm new to your class." Nick blinked. "Oh wait, I guess you would already know that…"

Mylène giggled. "I've seen you around Rose and Juleka. They probably already gave you a run-down of the school, but if you have any more questions you can ask anyone in class. We want you to be comfortable here."

" _Except for Chloé,_ " mumbled Ivan.

The girl sighed. "To be fair, Chloé isn't… The nicest person."

Ivan placed a hand on her shoulder. "She made you cry. She's the worst."

Mylène features softened. She nuzzled closer to Ivan, before turning back towards Nick.

"Just try your best to stay out of her way," she said, "Marinette and Alya are pretty good at keeping her down- Marinette is class representative and Alya is class deputy- but sometimes the things she does is uncontrollable. Please don't turn into an akuma over her."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Have you two ever been turned into an akuma?"

Ivan tensed up. Mylène held his hand and answered.

"Ivan was the first ever akuma made. I turned into an akuma during a school film."

"Huh." Nick scrunched up his nose. "Has everyone in our class turned into an akuma?"

"Everyone except for Marinette and Adrien," said Mylène. She smiled. "I'd like to think that they're too positive to be akumatized."

Ivan chuckled. "Or maybe they're too resistant against Chloé."

"Well, you have to be really positive to be resistant against Chloé, right?"

"True," said Ivan with a sage nod.

"So stay positive, avoid Chloé, and I won't get akumatized. Got it." Nick shuffled his feet. "Can I go now?"

"Oh! I hope we weren't keeping you from anything important," said Mylène.

"N-No!" replied Nick, waving his hands, "I enjoyed this conversation! I just have to go… To the washroom!" He nodded to himself. "Until next time. Bye!"

Nick speed walked out of the semi-crowded hallway.

Ivan and Mylène exchanged looks.

* * *

Nick breathed in the outside air. The air was cool and free, unlike the crowded dense air in school. Niccolo leaned against the stair railing, watching a few people exit the building.

"Never again," he said to himself. "I've filled my social interaction quota for the month."

"What are you, allergic to people or something?" Motto poked his head from the zipper in the messenger bag. "They seem like nice people! I can't tell if you're actually antisocial or just have lots of social anxiety."

Nick stared at him. "There's a difference?"

"Yeah. Antisocial people are sort of rebellious and hostile to society. Social anxiety is having an unreasonable fear of social situations." Motto scratched his head. "You know, other than the whole stealing thing, I don't think you're that antisocial. You're more asocial than antisocial. Actually, I think you _are_ asocial. Being asocial is-"

"Ugh, too many terms," interrupted Nick. "Well, whatever I am, all anyone needs to know is that conversations takes ten years off my life. I fear I may die soon."

"Well, be sure to thank me before you die!"

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Why."

"Duh, I helped you with Ivan. My whole charisma thing worked." Motto puffed up his chest in pride.

Nick rolled his eyes. "I'm going home."

"Not thanking me? Huh, maybe you _are_ antisocial. We should research more on this."

Niccolo ignored his kwami, preferring to walk down the stairs. When he reached the bottom steps, he noticed a small crowd forming off to the side. They were pretty loud talking to each other. Niccolo kept walking.

"Is what's being said on the news true, Lila?!"

Nick immediately stopped. He looked over to the crowd, trying to get a better look at the people. There, at the center of the crowd, was his one and only stepsister.

"Pfft, the news just immediately takes Ladybug's side! I have a cousin working in the media, and he says they like to hide the truth to make the superheroes appear more appealing. He said they embellished that news broadcast to protect my secret identity!" explained Lila.

The crowd around Lila gasped. They started to whisper to each other, sharing tidbits of information.

Nick sighed, leaning against a tree.

Here's a fact: They do not have a cousin working in the media.

"But…" started one of the people. "Ladybug said she even purified the akuma…"

Lila scowled. "Ladybug and I… We don't get along. We used to be super close until I moved to Paris. She's human like everyone else, and humans get jealous. We were best friends so she knows Volpina will upstage her. Now she's doing whatever she can to put me down."

The crowd continued to exchange looks with each other. Finally, one spoke.

"I don't believe it," declared one of the males. "Ladybug is way too perfect to ever be jealous."

Murmurs of agreement rang through the people.

"Wha- She isn't perfect!" protested Lila.

"I think travelling the world has really gotten to your head," said another person. "I mean, visiting so many countries, being related to so many celebrities, having your own deluxe shark tank… You're way too used to knowing everything about famous people, both strength and weaknesses. But Ladybug is different. She doesn't have any weaknesses, she always win!"

"Yeah!" agreed many other people from the crowd.

Nick gasped in a mixture of laughter and disbelief. "What?" he choked out.

Motto popped out from the messenger bag. "What do you mean by what?"

"These people believe in Lila's lies, but when it comes to an actual truth like 'Ladybug isn't perfect', they don't believe it."

"You don't think Ladybug is perfect?" asked Motto, tilting his head to the side.

"She isn't a supernatural creature. She's just some human teenager with a miraculous and kwami like me. No person is perfect. There's always going to be this flaw that people don't like."

The crowd talked more, before eventually dispersing to go home, leaving behind an irate Lila. She moved to go home as well, before she spotted her stepbrother.

Lila gestured for Niccolo to follow her. With a shrug, Nick followed at a reasonable distance. She entered a bakery across the street. Two minutes later, Niccolo entered that same bakery. It was empty, except for Lila and the woman as the cashier.

"Here you go." Lila tossed a box at Nick. Nick barely caught it, frowning a bit.

"Geez, give a warning before tossing fragile food at me," complained Nick. He opened the box to see lines of macaroons, with one missing. Lila was chewing on one.

"Don't try to talk to me at school. I don't want anyone to know that we're connected," said Lila.

"And the bakery right next door is safer?"

"People say this place makes the best pastries. We're just two strangers here for the famous food." Lila wiped her hands. "How much did you hear of that conversation?"

"Straight to the point," commented Nick. He placed the hand that wasn't holding the macaroons into his pocket. "I heard mainly the last part. They believe your lies, they don't think you're the fox heroine, and they think Ladybug is perfect."

Lila scoffed. "What lies?"

"Lila, you've never traveled around the world, the only famous relation you have is my mom whom you aren't even related to biologically, and she's way too much of a pyromaniac to ever let the family have a shark tank." Nick took a bite of a macaroon. Wow, it was pretty good.

Lila crossed her arms. "Well whatever, I'm still the great descendant of the famous fox superheroine Volpina. Not like you'd know, since you're my _step_ brother and all."

Nick heard muffled screaming from inside his messenger bag. The teen placed a hand on it, trying to stop Motto from squirming.

"Meh. Superheroes don't interest me anyway. Especially fox-themed ones. I don't even like foxes," said Nick.

Motto stopped squirming. Yet somehow, Nick could feel his glaring through the bag.

"Right, your main mission isn't about superheroes, it's about Adrien Agreste." Lila batted her eyelashes. "You _have_ attempted to talk to him today, right?"

"...How does he look like, again?"

Lila groaned. "I swear, Niccolo!"

"There are like fourteen other people in my class. How am I supposed to know?" said Nick.

"I bet you didn't even try to socialize with any of your classmates."

"Not true!" protested Nick, trying to remember everyone he has talked to today. "I talked to at least five people in the classroom today. That's about a third of them talked to!"

Lila gasped. "You talked to people in your class?" She brightened up. "That's… That's great! I'm so proud of you. You never talk to people of your own free will. I was almost certain you couldn't do it! How was it?"

Nick's shoulder drooped. "Tiring."

Lila rolled her eyes, punching Nick on the shoulder. "And that's why I want you to be friends with Adrien! I know for a fact that he's not a bad person, so I figured your social awkwardness wouldn't hinder this too much."

" _And here I thought you did this because you're obsessed with Adrien,_ " muttered Nick.

"I heard that," said Lila, giving him a sharp look. "Anyway, in case you still don't know how Adrien looks like, he's the only good-looking one in that class."

"That helps zero percent."

Lila rolled her eyes. "He's the only natural blond one. Green eyes. You seriously can't miss him. He poses like a model every two seconds and he looks good doing it." Lila pat Nick on the shoulder. "I'm leaving now. Don't forget to invite your class to your birthday party!"

With that, Lila Rossi left the bakery.

Niccolo scowled, ruffling his hair. After making sure she's properly out of sight, he opened his messenger bag to see Motto glaring at him.

"How could you say that foxes aren't cool?!"

Nick pat him on the head. "Oh chill. I didn't say that, I said that I don't like foxes. And the only reason I said that was to separate me and my miraculous self."

Motto's expression changed. He looked surprised. "Oh." Then, his expression sours. "Did that girl seriously claim she was Volpina? Or distantly related to Volpina?"

"Yep." Nick popped the p sound. "But Lila is a compulsive liar. It happens."

"Not cool. Though I suppose you aren't any better. At least she wants to be a _hero_."

"How long are you going to be negative?" Nick placed the box of macaroons inside his bag. "Here, take these macaroons as a peace treaty."

Before Motto could respond, a voice cut in.

"Uhh, who are you talking to?"

Nick paled. He looked over to see a girl with dark blue pigtails. She looked sort of familiar, but Nick couldn't place his finger on it.

"Just… Trying to make peace with my backpack. By shoving macaroons in it." Niccolo closed his eyes, immediately regretting what he just said. "Welp, I'm going now! Bye!"

He rushed out of the bakery, pretending that Motto wasn't snickering at him.

* * *

The moment Nick arrived home, he locked himself up in his room, turned on his computer, and started to research. It had started with information on flutes, before it drifted into other areas.

"I thought you finished all your homework in class," commented Motto.

"I did." Nick's hands were a blur across the keyboard. Words flitted across the screen, but they were going so fast Motto couldn't grasp a single coherent sentence.

"So is this what you do for fun? It looks like work. Boring, boring work."

Nick paused to glance over to Motto. "I guess we just have different definitions of fun." He resumed typing, pulling up a blank document then filling it with words.

From what Motto could tell, Nick is flipping between articles, transcripts, security footage, and more. He typed his work in Italian then encrypted it with a special vigenère cipher, all without breaking his pace.

The fox scrunched up his face. "Okay seriously, what are you doing? I'm getting serious paranoid hacker vibes out of this."

Nick stopped typing. "Stop interrupting me, I need full concentration for this."

"But what exactly **is** this-"

"Family, I'm home!" came a cheery voice from somewhere in the house.

"Dad and Lila aren't home, it's just me here!" yelled Nick back, before continuing to type on the computer. He opened a program that began spewing random characters across the screen, seemingly decoding something.

That's when they heard the creaky steps of the ladder. A knock sounded on the attic door.

"Can I come in? I want to see my favourite son!" exclaimed Francesca from the other side.

"I'm your only son," mumbled Nick under his breath. He locked his computer and turned off the monitor.

Motto snorted. "You know, by that logic, you're also her least favourite son-"

"Motto, I'm opening the door whether you're ready or not," snapped Nick in a hushed whisper.

Without a sound, the kwami hid behind one of the photo frames lining Niccolo's desk.

After triple checking to make sure there was nothing incriminating in his room, Nick nodded to himself. He walked over to the attic door, fiddled with the hatch to unlock it, and swung open the wooden panel.

Francesca climbed onto the floor of Nick's room, a large smile gracing her face.

"Niccolo! How was school? Did you talk to all your new friends?"

Nick suppressed a groan of despair. "School was fine. I talked to people."

His mother clapped her hands, a giddy look on her face.

"I need to meet them soon!"

Niccolo slumped into his computer chair.

"You can meet them during my birthday party." He looked away. "Also, mom… I've been meaning to ask you something…"

"What is it?"

Nick ruffled his hair, fidgeting in his seat. "I kind of…" He gulped. "Need a favour."

"Ohh?" Francesca walked over to the computer table, resting her arms on it. "That's rare. You never ask for favours."

Nick grimaced. "I know."

"Is it a girl? I bet it's a girl!" A grin stretched onto Francesca's face. "Does my little Nick have a crush?!"

"What? No!" protested Nick, pushing his chair away from his mother. Taking a deep breath, he spoke in a low voice. It was barely loud enough for his mom to hear. "I need money."

Francesca blinked. "Money?"

"Yeah, I… I want to buy a flute." Niccolo crossed his arms, face turning red. "I searched it up, and the cheapest brand new ones are about nine hundred euro…"

"Nine hundred euro?" The black-haired woman scrunched up her eyebrows. "That's not good."

"Right, so I was thinking of getting a used one-"

"You're worth way more than nine hundred euro!" proclaimed Francesca. She pulled out a tablet and started typing. "I'm certain I can get a professional custom-made flute with a couple of phone calls-"

"Wha- Mom no!" Nick pulled the tablet away from her hands. "I don't _need_ a professional custom one, just the cheapest one you can find. I don't even know if I'd like playing the flute. I'm just curious about it. You don't need to waste so much money for this."

"Oh c'mon Niccolo, you never let me do anything for you! You'd refuse my Christmas presents if it weren't impolite!" Francesca took her tablet back. "And what do you mean waste money? I'm one of the richest actresses from Italy. I burn things down just so my money won't be gathering up dust."

"No, you burn things down because you have pyromania and you're looking for an excuse." Nick scowled at his mom. "Mom, seriously, you don't have to do this. I searched the internet and I found some decent used ones for about a hundred euro."

Francesca scoffed. "How about this- Early birthday present. I'll buy you a flute myself, and I won't give you anything on your birthday."

"I smell trickery," said Nick with narrowed eyes.

Francesca gasped.

"Trickery from me? Why, I'd never!" exclaimed the famous actress.

Nick scrunched up his eyebrows. "It can't cost anything more than five hundred."

"Two thousand, at least!"

"I mean it, mom. Five hundred."

"How about no more than one thousand?"

There was a stand still for a while, both sides refusing to give up. However, after a pleading look from his mom's green eyes, Nick's shoulder slumped.

"I'm such a loser," groaned Nick, hand on his face. "Fine, whatever. No more than a thousand euro, but that better be my only birthday present."

"Of course!" Francesca placed her hands on Nick's shoulders. "And for the record, you are not a loser. You are my precious son who really needs to let other people be nice to him. No man's an island, you know. You need to learn to rely on others." She pat his head.

Nick huffed, crossing his arms. "So anyway, how soon can you get it?"

"For you? Consider it done by tomorrow morning, before you go to school."

Her gaze trailed over to the corner of the desk. Niccolo didn't mind, he made sure his room was perfect earlier, until he remembered the photos propping up the side of his desk. He also remembered that his kwami had chosen that area to hide behind.

"Woah there!" Nick practically dived into her line of sight. "What are you looking over there for? There's no reason to look there! If you have heard or seen anything, it was probably your imagination!"

Francesca raised an eyebrow at him. "I was just looking at the pictures."

"Ah." Nick coughed into his hand. He looked over to the picture frames on his desk.

There were only two photos- Niccolo has always been a minimalist type of guy. The photo on the right was of the current family, taken a year ago. His mom's face was nuzzled in the crook of his stepfather's neck, a content smile on her lips. Closer to the lens was Lila, all prepped up and camera ready, with a confident look gracing her features. Then off to the side but not too far off was Niccolo, smiling shyly at the camera.

The other photo contained Niccolo again, but aged five and grinning. A dog was on his lap, licking his face. Behind him was his mother, looking years younger, holding hands with a man and staring at him as if he was the most important person in the world.

"Your dad loved music, you know," said Francesca.

Nick turned back towards her. "Antonio or Samuel?"

"Your biological dad."

Francesca reached for a photo, causing Nick to tense up. When she pulled it from the table, there was no fox kwami behind it. The teen sighed in relief.

"He liked music?" inquired Nick as he attempted to casually walk over to the other photo frame. Behind it was Motto, giving him a panicked look. "I don't remember that."

"Antonio dragged me into concerts nearly every week while we were dating. I had to put my foot down when we were married, because I was getting sick of them." Francesca laughed a little as she rubbed her thumb in circles against the frame. "He wanted to enroll you into lessons too, but you never liked any of the tutors."

Francesca seemed distracted. Nick quickly bent down near the picture frame and gestured to the hood of his sweater. Motto understood the message and quickly hid inside the hood right before Francesca turned around.

Niccolo pretended to wipe away some dust off his wooden floor to give an excuse for bending down. At his mom's bewildered look, he straightened up.

"Couldn't he have taught me some music himself?"

Francesca nearly burst out laughing. "Wouldn't that be a sight!" She muffled some more laughter with her sleeve. "Antonio was _horrible_ at playing music himself. He somehow got banned from the school band all throughout his student years!"

"Oh."

Nick's mother shook her head. "Heh, well, you better not inherit his awful music talent, Nick." She placed the photo frame back down. "I'm off to make a few calls. Come bother me in the living room if you need attention."

"Noted."

Francesca smiled at her son, eyes squinting and features soft.

"I love you, Nick." She gave her son a quick hug then descended down the ladder out of Nick's room.

Niccolo shut the panel and locked it. Once he could no longer hear Francesca's footsteps, Motto popped out of Nick's hood.

"Geez, I nearly got a heart attack when she started picking up the picture frames!" said Motto. "But other than that, your mom seems nice. I like her. Let's keep her around."

"She's my mom, Motto. She'll try and stick around no matter what I say." Nick wandered over to his computer and turned on the monitor. After inserting the password, the screen flashed back to the decryption program he had on earlier.

"You know, you didn't even say thank you when she said she's buying you an expensive flute," scolded Motto. "Bad manners, Freckles."

"Hey, I already told you not to call me that!" whined Nick, "And I didn't realize I forgot to say thanks. Remind me to thank her when she gives me the flute."

"Will do."

Nick glanced over to the screen. "This looks like it's going to take a while."

"So are you going to tell me what you're doing on the computer now?" asked Motto, leaning close to Nick's face.

Niccolo rolled his eyes, lightly pushing the kwami away.

"I'm sure you're smart enough to figure it out in a couple of days." Nick pat his jeans. "In the meantime, I'm going to get some training done."

Motto tilted his head to the side. "Training?"

"Motto, Foxtrot!"

When the transformation was over, Nick escaped through the window. He made his way back to the abandoned warehouse where he captured that criminal earlier today.

With a grin on his face, Niccolo began to train.

* * *

" _She did not just do that._ "

It was morning. Sunlight crept through the window. A kwami was whistling and a certain teen had his eyes wide in disbelief. Niccolo had been staring at the object in front of him for quite a while now. It was a case, propped up on the kitchen counter, lid wide open. Inside the case, surrounded by fuzzy soft black padding, was a flute.

Not just any flute. Nick doesn't know much about them, but he knows his metals. Picking the instrument up, Nick felt the familiar sensation of silver. Everywhere.

It was a solid silver flute. Not just silver-plated, but honest-to-goodness solid silver.

Not only that, but the flute had engravings in multiple places. Loopy designs surrounded the buttons, trailing to the side where a name was engraved in swirling script.

' _Niccolo Conti_ '.

Nick sighed, gently pressing the flute against his forehead.

"Oh mom… You really didn't have to do that…"

Motto peered closer to the flute. "That definitely costs more than the one thousand euro budget limit you two agreed on."

"Yep. And my mom is nowhere to be seen. Probably trying to avoid me scolding her for wasting money like that."

"Don't forget to thank her," reminded Motto.

"I will when I see her, but…" Nick ruffled his hair. "This thing is way too fancy to be brought out in public. I was trying to be discreet."

With a sigh, he brought the flute near his lips.

 **ScRRreEEeeEcH!**

Motto slapped his hands over his ears.

"ACK! What did I do to deserve hearing that?!"

Nick winced. "It wasn't that bad..?"

"The only bright side is that you know how to properly hold a flute, and that's just because your miraculous gave you that instinct!" Motto shook his head. "Here, I'll show you how to play a simple B note."

The kwami nudged Nick's fingers onto the proper keys. Niccolo fumbled a bit, nearly dropping his very expensive flute, but finally managed to put his fingers in the proper position. He played.

 **ScReEeeCh!**

 **SCReeeeEEcHH!**

 **ScrRrEeEeEcCch!**

Nick glared at the instrument.

Motto shook his head. "It's not the flute that's the problem! C'mon Freckles, stand up straight. You got this."

With a sigh, Niccolo resumed 'playing'.

It took ten minutes of trial and error before they decided to call it quits. Motto is nursing a slight headache while Nick's grumpiness was making him blow too harshly on the flute.

"This is bad, Motto."

Motto sniffed. "Yeah, my bleeding ears agree with you on that one."

"I think…" Nick stared at his flute in horror. "I think I inherited my dad's awful music talent."

"That's not how genetics work, Freckles."

Niccolo raised an eyebrow. He brought his flute closer to his lips.

" _Please don't play to prove me wrong_ ," interrupted Motto before Nick could do anything. Nick lowered the flute. "You're just a beginner, Nick. Maybe you're just having a bad music day."

"I can't afford to have bad music days. If things go south for some reason, it's good to have these illusions to back me up." Nick brought the flute back to his chin. "I won't stop until I play this one note properly at least once."

"I'll go look for earplugs."

When Nick finally arrived to school, proud that he had played the note correctly at least once, he had already missed half the day.

* * *

 **A/N:** **1000 euro ≈ 1100 US Dollars ≈ 1500 Canadian Dollars**

 **Flutes are pretty expensive compared to other instruments because they're handmade. Reviewer _yellow 14_ pointed out I used dollars instead of euro, so I edited that. I temporarily forgot about the existence of different currencies. English uses both euro and euros, French uses euros, and Italian uses euro (or euri uncommonly). Decided to settle with euro because they're Italian.**

 **This chapter was supposed to be split in two, but I figured you guys waited long enough. Next chapter might be shorter though.**


	4. The Invitations

**A/N:** **I wrote this chapter about one and a half years ago.**

 **This fact gets very obvious with some characters. It pains me to have obvious OOC moments, but my outline was based around Season 1.**

 **Let's just make this an Alternate Universe.**

* * *

In the middle of class, before Nick's eyes could get the chance to droop or his head could get the chance to fall asleep against his desk, he felt something tug on his pant leg. With a frown, the teenager tried to shake it off. However, the tugging wouldn't relent.

The moment the teacher turned her back, Nick ducked his head under the desk to see what's gripping on his pant leg. It was Motto. He was pointing at Nick's cellphone, which displayed the password screen. The kwami, with his eyebrows scrunched together and mouth turned into a pout, looked just as annoyed and bored with class as he was.

Niccolo rolled his eyes. He grabbed the phone from Motto. Tilting the screen slightly towards the kwami so he could see, Nick entered his password.

' _macandcheese263764_ '

He passed the phone to his kwami, who was raising an eyebrow at him.

" _Are you judging my password?_ " whispered Nick, looking defensive. Before Motto could reply, a voice cut in.

"Niccolo!"

Nick snapped his head back up to the front. Miss Bustier had her arms crossed, lips turned into a frown. Since the teacher had called attention onto him, Niccolo could feel the stares of his classmates. He shrunk into his seat.

"Y-Yes?" stuttered Nick, caught off guard.

"You came into class late today and now you're texting?" said Miss Bustier, hands on her hips.

"Uhh…" Nick fumbled for an excuse. After a beat of silence and everyone staring, Niccolo's face flushed. "...It won't happen again."

"It better. Next time I catch you late or texting _or sleeping_ -" Nick winced at that. Miss Bustier continued. "I will be sending you to the principal's office. I've already been letting it slip for far too long."

Niccolo nodded hastily.

"Special treatment much?" scoffed the blonde girl from the front row.

There was a muffled, " _Says you,_ " from another row, but Niccolo couldn't locate where.

Suddenly the door opened, and everyone's heads turned towards the girl entering the room. At Miss Bustier's disapproving stare, the girl's cheeks tinged with pink.

"Marinette," said Miss Bustier. "I was just scolding our new student about bad habits like being tardy."

The girl winced at the bad timing. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized, rushing over to her seat. "There was a- uh- a cat stuck in a tree!"

Miss Bustier shook her head. "Just sit down."

She sat down. Miss Buster regarded Nick and Marinette for a second or two, before turning back to the chalkboard. She continued her lesson right from where she left off, allowing most of the students to turn their heads back to the front of the classroom.

When the attention was finally off Nick, he risked a quick glare to the kwami hiding between his foot and his bag. The fox had the decency to look sheepish, one hand gripping on Nick's cellphone and the other rubbing the back of his head.

With a sigh, Nick attempted to return his focus back to class.

"Now, this week is a very important week for tests, so I'm going to be a little harsher on you guys for the next couple of days. Come and talk to me if you need any extra help. For homework tonight, I'm assigning the second half of that worksheet…"

* * *

The last class of the day was science class. There was a teacher substituting for Ms. Mendeleiev. For the first part of class the substitute gave a brief explanation on the worksheets the students were supposed to be working on. Afterwards, the substitute stuck to the teacher's desk, only speaking when the students had any questions.

Of course, halfway through the class, most of the students began to socialize with each other instead of working on the sheets like they were supposed to.

Nick slouched in his chair, unsure of what to do now. Usually he'd try to skip class or doze off, but after that quick scare earlier today, he decided to not risk it at the moment.

He glanced over to the side to see his seat partner, Nathaniel if he remembered correctly, doodling around the sides of his worksheet again. Taking a closer look at his artwork, Nick noticed that they were pretty detailed. It consisted mostly of a girl with twin pigtails, smiling cheerfully. The shadows made the drawing pop, with the light adding a soft edge to the outline. Actually, that girl looks familiar. Isn't she that girl who was late today-

Nathaniel caught his look and self-consciously placed his arm on the desk, hiding the doodles from view. Nick immediately looked away, as if doing so would give Nathaniel a sense of privacy.

Fingers drumming against the desk, Nick reached into his bag in order to grab his cell phone for entertainment purposes. He then remembered that Motto took it earlier.

" _You better not use up all my battery,_ " said Nick in a low voice, hoping no one would overhear. Motto popped his head out of the bag, stuck out his tongue, then popped right back in. Before Nick could protest, a feminine and cheerful voice spoke.

"Hey Nick!"

Nick's brown eyes flicked away from his messenger bag and onto the bright smile adorning Rose's face.

"Rose," greeted Nick. "Hello."

"You don't have to be so stiff, it's just me!" Rose lightly gripped onto Nick's wrist. "C'mon, now is the perfect time to talk to some classmates! Our class has lots of activities together, so we know each other pretty well. Which means they all really want to meet you. You should introduce yourself. Juleka is over there right now!"

Rose gestured to the corner of the class. Since the entire class is basically socializing with each other, there are many clusters of people scattered around the room. The corner she motioned at is the one with the most people in it. Juleka caught Nick and Rose looking at their direction, so she offered a quick wave. Rose waved back enthusiastically.

"I don't know. You've probably noticed I'm not the most…" Nick grimaced. "...Sociable kind of guy."

"Oh, no pressure!" assured Rose, letting go of Nick's wrist. "I just didn't want you to be confused when we mention our classmates' names like yesterday."

Nick placed a hand in his chin. "Yeah, I guess I should know all their names before I invite them to my birthday party…"

"Birthday party?" Rose's eyes widened. "Is your birthday coming up? Are you having a party?!"

"Uhh…" Nick glanced over to his messenger bag for support. Unfortunately, the bag was still, because Motto needed to stay hidden. "My birthday is in a little over a week."

"So soon?!" cried Rose with a gasp. She placed her hands on her cheeks. "I need to buy you a present!"

Juleka popped in-between them. "A present? What for?"

Nick jumped, startled. "W-Where did you come from?!"

That's when he noticed the rest of the group Juleka was in were approaching. Two males and two females. Looks like despite the fact Nick turned down the offer to socialize with them, they'll come and socialize with him either way.

Rose turned towards Juleka. "Apparently it's Nick's birthday soon!"

"Oh." Juleka glanced over to Nick. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I didn't get the chance to," said Nick, ruffling his hair.

"Friendly advice; don't invite Chloe," warned one of the new people. It was a short girl with messy pink hair. "Unless you want someone to get akumatized."

"Nah, she might still akumatize someone just to wreck the party," joked the tallest one, a guy with a red short-sleeved hoodie jacket.

Nick shifted in place, acutely aware he's the only one sitting down. "So… Who's Chloe anyway? I keep hearing her name but I don't know what she looks like."

"Introductions time!" exclaimed Rose, clapping her hands together.

Mylène spoke first. "I'm Mylène, but we've already met yesterday," she said with a bright smile.

Nick nodded in acknowledgement. "Yeah, I remember you."

The red hoodie guy spoke up next. "The name's Kim, I'm pretty much the strongest and fastest guy at school," he said, flexing his arm as if proving a point.

The pink-haired girl snorts, pushing his arm away. "Alix. If this meathead dares you anything, just decline. You'll keep your sanity that way."

"Wha- Hey!" protested Kim.

The guy next to him pokes up his glasses. "Last month alone, you've made exactly 43 dares at school. That's an average of 2.15 dares per school day."

Kim scoffs. "That's not THAT much."

"It was a rather slow month for you." The glasses guy straightened out his light green polo shirt, facing Nick. "I'm Max. It's nice to meet you, Nick."

"Likewise," replied Nick, scanning each of their faces for unique facial features to remember.

Rose gestured to the right side of the classroom, at the front row seats. "Chloe is the blonde girl over there. The one sitting besides her is Sabrina. They're best friends."

Nick tried to crane his neck to see the aforementioned girls, but the crowd around him blocked the way. Rose, oblivious to this, continued speaking.

"Sitting next to you is Nathaniel, you two probably already said hi, and as you know in front of you is Ivan. Then even further front is-"

"Are you guys doing introductions?" A cheery voice asked from the front-left side of Nick's desk.

Even more people. Four other classmates came from the left. Niccolo tried to sink into his seat. Considering the fact that there's people all around him, it didn't work out so well. The entire class crowded all around him. Niccolo couldn't see the substitute teacher, but he's willing to bet the teacher isn't paying them any attention. So Nick opted to keep his head low and stare at his desk.

"Alya Césaire, Class Deputy!" exclaimed that same cheerful voice.

"I'm Marinette, the Class Representative. If you need any help, you can just come to me for advice," said someone next to her.

"I'm Nino. I manage the school radio station," said another person.

"And I'm-"

Niccolo abruptly stood up.

"L-Listen, it's nice to meet you all, but I gotta go!" cried Nick. He grabbed his messenger bag and hopped over his seat, settling in the gap between Rose and Nathaniel.

Rose stared at him with wide eyes.

"Where are you going?"

Niccolo didn't answer. He swerved to the middle walkway, marched to the front of the class, and out the front door.

The substitute yelled after him, but didn't make any movement to stop him. Nick didn't stop walking until he reached the boy's washroom. Seeing that it's empty, the teen staggered over to the hand washing area. His elbows leaned against the edges of the sink, hands covering his face.

Motto popped out of the messenger bag. "Ha, I can't believe you just walked out of class like that!" he exclaimed, sitting on the handle of the faucet. "I wish I could've seen the look on everyone's faces!"

Nick didn't reply, face still covered with his hands.

The kwami's teasing smirk turned into a frown.

"Hey… Are you okay? Are you going to puke or something?" he asked in a softer voice.

A pause. Niccolo shook his head.

Nick took in a shuddering breath and let out an unsteady exhale. Seconds later, he turned on the faucet and began to splash water on his face. Wiping himself with a disposable paper towel, the teen took a couple of seconds to stare at himself in the mirror.

Motto hovered near his eye level.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Nick shook his head again. "Not really."

"Okay."

A beat of silence. Nick ran a hand through his messy hair.

"How badly do you think I messed up the chances of inviting them to my birthday party?"

"Psh, it's a party!" Motto waved his hand. "I don't know why anyone _wouldn't_ come, even if they hate the host. It's _free food_. I'd say you're fine."

"Yeah, but the end goal is to invite Adrien Agreste. I need more appeal than just free food," protested Nick.

"True. You _did_ cut him off and ran away when he was about to introduce himself."

Nick froze. "Wait what?"

"You cut him off and ran away when he was about to introduce-"

"-I heard you," snapped Nick, facepalming. He groaned. "I didn't even notice I did that! I stopped paying attention to my classmates after they all started crowding around me. Think it's salvageable?"

"Well you won't know unless you get out of the washroom and face the music." Motto sniffed the air. "Seriously though, get out of the washroom. Why is this your go-to place to sulk? Come here often enough and you'll start to smell like one. Now that'll _really_ improve your social abilities."

"Oh shut it," huffed Nick, poking Motto on the forehead. Yet already he could feel the tension in his shoulders start to relax. Not that he'll ever admit it.

Motto grinned, returning inside Nick's messenger bag.

"Ready to face the music?"

"Not really," admitted Nick. He moved to leave the washroom anyway.

Opening the door, Niccolo came face to face with Juleka.

Juleka was leaning against the rows of lockers in front of the boy's washroom, a pensive look on her face. When she spotted Nick, a small smile crept upon her lips.

"I figured you'd be hiding out in the washroom," she explained, straightening up. "The substitute got mad that you left all of a sudden, so I was sent to go after you."

Nick winced. "I kind of made a scene, didn't I."

"No, it's cool. Rose is straightening out everything with everyone. Also, uh…" Juleka grimaced. "We're sorry for overcrowding you. Sometimes Rose gets really excited, and then I get excited, and we sort of get carried away. We really wanted you to have a good time here. Rose has noticed how tired you look all the time and wanted to cheer you up. We should've noticed you were getting really uncomfortable with all the attention."

"...Oh." Nick looked away, then mumbled, "That's uh… That's really sweet of you two. Thanks."

Juleka offered a tiny smile. "Don't mention it."

He shifted the weight of his feet. "We should get back to class."

Wordlessly, Juleka started to move towards the direction of the class, and Niccolo followed.

* * *

"Motto."

Nick shut his locker and closed the lock.

They were in the locker room. It was the end of the day, so there were too many people milling about for Motto to properly talk to him.

Still, Motto tried to discreetly whisper, "Yeah?"

"I'm going to do something crazy. Wish me luck."

Motto blinked. "Uh, can you run through your plan with me first-"

Motto was cut off as Nick began to run forward. He sped through the doors, avoiding the throngs of people leaving the school grounds. At the steps of the school entrance, Nick faltered a little. He shook his head, then briskly walked down the stairs.

"Um-" He tightened his grip on the strap of his messenger bag. "R-Rose! Juleka!"

A couple of steps away, the duo stopped and turned around. A look of surprise flashed on their faces, turning into a big smile for Rose and curiosity for Juleka.

"Nick!" "Hi Nick."

Nick jogged over to them, then took a moment to catch his breath. He wasn't tired, but he used those extra seconds as a chance to collect his thoughts.

"I, uh-" Niccolo fiddled with his bag strap. "Are you two busy today?"

Rose made a face. "We were going over to my house to work on our math homework together. I'm _awful_ at math." She draped her arm over Juleka's shoulders. "So we figured two heads are better than one!"

"Math homework? We had homework?"

"The worksheets Miss Bustier gave us yesterday," explained Juleka. "Did you lose yours?"

It took a moment before Nick recalled what they were talking about.

"Oh! Those worksheets! I finished mines yesterday," said Nick.

Rose snapped her fingers. "I remember that! I thought you just _really_ needed to go to the washroom that you zipped through all those problems."

"Anyway!" said Nick with a squeak, "I needed help putting together invitations for my birthday, but I'm not very artistic and I don't know all the names of our classmates yet. So maybe…" He took in a breath. "I help you guys with math and in exchange you two can help me make invitations..?"

Rose promptly squeed.

"Invitations! That sounds like so much fun! I'd do it for free!"

"It does sound like fun," agreed Juleka. "I've never made invitations before."

"You can use your pretty handwriting!" gushed Rose. "And I can use stickers! Colourful stickers!"

"So… Is that a yes..?"

"Of course that's a yes!" Rose undraped her arm from Juleka's shoulder. "Let's go to my house! I have a ton of pretty paper we can use!"

"Don't forget about our math homework," reminded Juleka.

"I know, I know!"

As the two talked and walked, with Niccolo trailing behind them, Motto poked his head out of the messenger bag.

" _This_ is crazy?" whispered Motto, "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"I've never went over to a friend's house before," admitted Nick quietly.

"Seriously? What about group projects?"

"Finished them on my own. Or worked on them collaboratively online. My dad wouldn't let me go over to a friend's house anyway."

Motto furrowed an eyebrow. "Aren't you going to get into trouble then?"

"Other dad."

"Nick, you're slowing down!" cried Rose, "Come on, we don't want to leave you behind!"

Niccolo snapped his head up to see that Rose and Juleka were already at the other end of the street.

"My bad!" yelled Nick, jogging over to catch up to them.

* * *

"You really are a math wiz!" complimented Rose, flipping through her completed math worksheets. "I've never finished math this fast."

They were lounging in her room. Rose laid on her stomach on the carpeted floor, Juleka leaned against the bed, while Nick sat cross legged near the door, absentmindedly chewing on his pencil as he checked Juleka's work.

"Mh-" Nick grabbed his pencil from his mouth. "Honestly, you knew the steps, you just had trouble knowing when to use them." With a nod, he handed over the worksheets in his hand to Juleka.

"Thanks for tutoring us," said Juleka, putting her finished homework in her bag.

"Yeah, thanks! Are you a tutor or something?"

"A tutor?" asked Nick. "Oh, no. I mean, I would tutor my sister sometimes, but really I just like math."

"You have a sister?" Juleka closed her bag. "Does she go to our sch-"

"Ahh, it's six o'clock!" interrupted Nick. "Do we have time for-?"

Rose clapped her hands. "The invitations! Right! Should all the invitations be in coloured paper? Oh but I want the words and stickers to be colourful too!"

"We can use coloured paper on the outside then white paper on the inside," suggested Juleka.

Rose gasped. "That's a great idea!" She turned towards Nick. "What do you think? It's your birthday party."

"Uh…" Nick shrugged. "I'm honestly clueless."

"I'll pull out the papers and stickers!" Rose stood up. "Juleka, can you get the pens and scissors?"

Juleka nods, standing up as well. They both left the room, but Nick can still hear the pitter patter of their feet.

"I'll… Stay here, I guess…"

Nick stood up, but mostly to stretch his legs. Out of nothing else better to do, he wandered over to Rose's desk. It was a typical desk, pink in colour, cluttered with leftover cut paper and decorated with stickers. A cork board pinned with pictures of Rose, Juleka, and her other friends hung right above it. There was a snow globe with a tiny Eiffel Tower laid precariously to the border of the desk, threatening to fall over and shatter. Niccolo placed a hand on it, pushing it away from the edge, deep in thought.

"Hey!"

Nick jumped, instinctively tightening his hands and shoving them into his sweater pockets. He turned around. His messenger bag on the floor was shaking, before it flopped over on its side. Motto crawled out of it.

Nick exhaled a breath of relief. "You need to stop scaring me."

"I think you just need to get used to me being around," replied Motto. "I'm bored."

"Can't you just play on my phone?"

"Well I would, but-"

Footsteps were getting louder. Motto darted back into the bag.

"I found my nice papers and stickers!" exclaimed Rose, skipping into the room. "Plus, I found some colourful glitter glue too. The class is going to love their invitations!"

She dumped her supplies on the floor. The stack of paper made a loud thud as it hit the carpet.

"That's… A lot of colourful paper," said Nick. "Do we really need that many?"

"It never hurts to get the perfect colour!" exclaimed Rose, "Do you think we need anything else?"

"Actually…" Nick glanced over to his messenger bag. "Maybe, snacks?"

Rose perked up. "Snacks are a great idea! Let's go to the kitchen together!"

The girl skipped out of the room again, with Nick rushing to catch up with her.

* * *

Since Nick wasn't very artsy, he volunteered for the job of cutting and folding the paper. He insisted the other two girls have full reign on the art side of the invitations.

"Mylène should get this shade of green, like the cute sweater she always wears, ooh and Max should get this checkered brown, it suits him, oh oh and Marinette should have this white polka-dot pink, she loves that design, and-"

On and on Rose went, handing Nick each paper she listed. The pile got considerably bigger and smaller, with Rose either adding on multiple shades at once or changing her mind and discarding the paper from the pile.

"I'll just cut them when you're done," decided Nick out loud.

Niccolo opened one of the potato chip bags they laid out for snacks, sour cream & onion, and let the scent waft into the air. Seeing Rose distracted with colour matching and Juleka focused on testing out the pens, Nick discreetly grabbed a handful of chips. He shoved them into his bag.

If one strains their ears, they could hear the excited gasp Motto let out. There were tiny crunches of chip eating, but not loud enough for the other girls to hear.

"Nick," said Juleka, looking up from her paper. "What's your address? When's the party?"

"Right. I'll write it down."

Juleka handed over the paper she was scribbling on, along with a standard pen.

"My birthday this year falls on a Tuesday," says Nick, tapping the pen on his cheek. "So I guess I'll have the party on the Saturday after." He wrote down the date and address.

"Four days later?" asked Rose, temporarily snapped out of her colour daze. "You don't want it earlier?"

Nick hid a grimace. "Nah. The later the better." He handed the paper and pen back to Juleka.

Rose shuffled the papers. "What colour should Chloe get? I'm thinking yellow, but I don't know if I want yellow the same shade as her hair or her clothes."

"Chloe?" repeated Nick, furrowing his eyebrow. "Isn't she that girl everyone keeps telling me to stay away from? And not invite?"

"Yeah, but…" Rose fiddled with the two different shades of yellow. "I don't think she should miss out from hanging out with the rest of the class. Who knows, she might have fun!"

"In the end, you're the one who decides, Nick. It's your birthday," said Juleka.

Nick shrugged. "Well I've never met her before, so who am I to judge. Let's invite her."

"Okay!" exclaimed Rose, "And I've decided to go with the brighter yellow, and…"

* * *

As Juleka was putting the finishing touches on the names at the front of the invitations, she absentmindedly glanced at the time, then gasped.

"8 o'clock!" she cried, standing up abruptly. "I'm supposed to be home by now- I got to go."

"That's alright! I'm just putting the finishing touches on the stickers, then all the invitations are done!" exclaimed Rose.

Juleka nods. "This was fun. I'll see you two tomorrow at school. Bye!"

"Bye!" chorused Rose and Nick together. With that, Juleka hastily grabbed her bag and left the room.

Nick glanced at the time, furrowing his eyebrow.

"Strange, my parents should've called me by now…" he said.

Niccolo peered inside his messenger bag. Motto stared back with a guilty looking expression on his face. Raising an eyebrow, Nick pulled out his cellphone.

The screen was pitch black. He hit the power button.

Nothing changed.

Dread coursed through his veins. Motto mouthing ' _my bad_ ' didn't help a single bit.

"Outlet!" yelled Nick, grabbing his phone charger from his bag. This statement startled Rose, who knocked over her glitter glue on one of the invitations. Luckily it was only the edge, so it wasn't very noticeable.

Nick practically fell to his knees at the nearest power outlet. He slammed his phone charger into the outlet and the other end into his phone. As Nick's knee shook from waiting impatiently for the phone to turn on, Rose peered above his shoulder.

"What happened?" she asked.

The phone screen blinked on. After hastily entering his password and backspacing because of a typo, he was greeted with the notification ' _You have 7 missed call(s)!_ '.

Four from his mom, two from Lila, and one from his dad. Great.

He called his mom, placing the phone on his ear. Halfway through the first ring, his mother answered the phone.

"Nick! Are you okay?! How many bones are broken?!" cried Francesca.

"What- None!" answered Nick hastily. "Who told you that?"

"You _never_ , in the history of owning a phone, missed a call," said his mom. "You sometimes cancel them, but never let it ring or turn it off. At first I thought it got stolen or something, because karma, but then it was getting late and you weren't showing up home, I thought you were lying dead in a ditch somewhere!"

"Calm down, calm down, I'm sorry," apologized Nick. "The battery on my phone ran out and I didn't notice."

"Oh thank heavens," whispered Francesca. Nick could hear a muffled " _Samuel! Lila! Call off the search, he's okay!_ " Francesca returned to the phone call. "Where were you?"

"I was tutoring some friends of mine in math. Then we made some invitations for my birthday party together."

Francesca gasped. "That's amazing, Nick! Who are they? Are they nice? Are you going to sleepover? Should I bring some PJs and underwear-"

"Nope, mom, stop right there, I'm going home!" interrupted Nick. "Expect me in twenty minutes. Bye!"

"See you soon, sweetie! I can't wait for your birthday party!"

With that, Francesca ended the call. Nick sighed, staring at his phone.

"I can," he said to himself.

* * *

When Nick opened the door to his house, he could hear the sounds of television coming from the living room. He shut the door. The sound prompted sock muffled footsteps to rush down the stairs.

"Oh, you're home," said Lila, standing at the halfway point of the staircase. "Next time, answer our calls. You were freaking dad out."

"Ran out of battery," replied Nick. "Though I really doubt it'll happen again. On the bright side, guess who prepared invitations for their birthday?"

Lila raised an eyebrow. "You? No way. Your handwriting is atrocious." She walked over to Nick's messenger bag, but before she could look inside, Nick pulled it away.

"Well that's rude." Nick pulled out the invitations from his bag, making sure to not hit Motto. "And no, actually. Kind of. I worked on these with two classmates of mines."

Lila snatched them out of his hands. She barely glanced at each one, flipping through them at rapid speed, before she settled on a plain green one. The front spelled 'Adrien' in gold cursive. She tossed the rest back at Nick, but most landed back on the floor. With an unnoticed glare, Nick crouched down to pick up the invitations.

Lila scoffed. "Really?"

"What?"

Lila turned the open invitation in her hands so it faced Nick. From his crouching position on the ground, he craned his face invitation had a wavy outline, like all the other invitations, with white paper glued on the inside (Nick's work, which he was sort of proud of). Fancy handwriting noted all the details of the party (Juleka's work). Finally, the paper was plastered with cute doodles and stickers of miscellaneous objects, such as cheese and fencing swords (Rose's pride and joy, obviously). All in all, it didn't look half bad.

"This invitation is not extravagant enough! Who uses plain green?!" complained Lila. "The handwriting is wobbly and these stickers clutter the entire thing! The wavy border is just stupid."

Nick frowned. "Lila." He snatched the invitation out of her hands. "Shut up."

Lila had the decency to look sheepish, hand on the back of her neck.

"Okay, fine. Got too pushy there. I just want everything to be perfect for Adrien," said Lila.

Nick looked back at the invitation, at the uneven borders and wobbly handwriting and overdose of stickers.

"I think it's perfect."

Lila snorted. "You sap. Look, I guess you can argue that it's not that bad, but Adrien deserves the best of the best!" She crossed her arms. "How about I'll work on his invitation, since I'm the one who cares about him the most? I'll get those automatic music cards, type out the words, use professional paper-"

"We worked really hard on these invitations," cut in Nick. "I'm not going to single out Adrien's card just because you're obsessed with him."

Lila huffed. "If he doesn't come to our house for your birthday-"

"He'll come, I promise. So leave the invitation alone."

"Fine. I'll hold you onto that." With that, Lila marched back upstairs. Nick stared at her retreated back.

"Uh." Nick turned towards his messenger bag. "Why did I promise that?"

"Because you're a sap?" replied Motto immediately.

Nick narrowed his eyes and shoved the invitations back into the bag, purposely hitting Motto in the process. Motto merely laughed in response, watching Nick attempt to ignore him.

* * *

"Mom," said Nick as he entered the living room. "I need to speak with you."

"You're home!" exclaimed Francesca from the couch.

She was snuggled up to her husband, but the woman immediately extricated herself from his hold. She grabbed the tv remote placed on top of the glass table at the center of the room. The television paused. The room fell silent.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" she asked. "There's still some left on the dining table, I covered it with plastic. You just need to heat it up."

"Later." Niccolo crossed his arms. "I'm mad at you."

Samuel stood up from the couch.

"That's my cue to leave."

The man all but ran out of the room. Francesca burst out laughing.

"Samuel!" she scolded, but Samuel was too far gone upstairs. She shook her head, a fond smile on her lips, then turned towards her son. "That silly man… Alright Nicco. What are you mad about? Tell your mother all about your teenage feelings."

Nick tried his hardest not to pout. "Don't patronize me."

"I'm not! Come on Nick, take a seat." Francesca patted on the green couch cushion beside her. "Why are you mad?"

Niccolo tried to resist, but after one glance at his pleading mother's face, he relented and sat down.

"Flute."

Francesca stared at her son, uncomprehending, before it clicked. She grinned wide.

"Did you like it? It's top of the line, all silver, custom engraved flute just for you!"

Nick sighed, running a hand through his hair. He glanced at his bag, then back at his mom. "I do like it mom, _thank you_. But it's not what we agreed on. That flute you gave me had to be at least three thousand euro."

"Or so you think!" Francesca smirked deviously. "I know exactly what we agreed on. So I bought a brand new flute cheap from a friend of mine who never used it, got it cleaned and engraved for half the price from a huge fan of mine, then got it transported here quickly as a favour from a close friend. All of that was actually under a thousand euro, just like you asked."

"W-Wha…" Nick gaped at her. "You- You cheated!"

"I'd never dishonour a deal from my son!" protested Francesca, giving her son a bear hug.

Nick struggled under her grasp. "Mom! Can't breathe!"

Francesca let go, but not before ruffling his hair. "Now go eat. I don't want you skipping meals again."

Nick looked like he wanted to protest, lips pressed into a thin line, before he sighed.

"Okay, okay. You win." He stood up. "Thanks, mom."

"It's my pleasure!" replied Francesca cheerily, reaching for the television remote.

Nick left the living room with the sounds of television playing behind his back.

* * *

"Did you know your mom is awesome? Your mom is awesome," said Motto.

"Well, it's not like I have any other moms to compare her to." Niccolo shut the panel connecting his bedroom to the rest of his house. He grabbed his phone and charger, tossed his messenger bag on his bed, then promptly plugged in his cellphone to an electrical outlet.

Motto floated over to the phone and sat next to it.

"Sorry about using up all your battery. It's been ages since I've last touched a cellphone. I thought the battery capacity is more."

"It's fine." Nick walked over to his closet. "I'm going to sleep. All of this social interaction today has wiped me out."

"Ooh! Speaking of social interaction, want to hear what I researched on your phone?"

"Wait, you used my phone to research? You didn't play games or something to entertain yourself?"

Motto scoffed. "Who would waste their time on games when you got the vast world of endless information online?! I learned about the history of France! And where the best potato chips are in France! I would ask you to bring me there, but considering how you couldn't even bring me to Master Fu…"

Nick rolled his eyes, pulling out his pajamas from the closet.

"Is that all you researched?" he asked.

"Psh, I'm much more efficient than that!" Motto zipped over to Nick's pillow. "I also researched the whole social anxiety, antisocial, and asocial differences I was talking about earlier. Want to hear about it?"

"No."

"Great! So to simplify it, antisocial people are against society, unwilling to associate in a normal or friendly way with other people. Asocial people are those who are withdrawn from society because they feel like it has no importance. People with social anxiety feel nervous and uncomfortable in social situations, and they actually do feel physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat and dizziness. They're all similar, but today proved you're probably not asocial. I think you just have social anxiety, but it might be only minor because you were fine interacting with-."

"-Swell. You're a nerd."

Motto grinned. "Don't pretend like you weren't listening."

Nick turned around in an attempt to ignore him. He pulled out his sweater over his head to change his clothes. As he removed it, something fell out of his sweater pocket, and landed on a discarded pillow on the floor. Still, it made a loud thump.

Motto's eyes widened. "Is that-?"

Nick froze as he stared at the object. Motto flew over to it.

It was a snow globe, with a tiny eiffel tower in the middle.

"You don't own this. Where did you get this? I was with you all day!" Motto floated upwards to make eye contact with Nick. "Did you- Did you steal this from Rose?!"

"I, uh, wow." Niccolo picked up the snow globe. "I didn't even realize. I didn't mean to."

"Didn't- Didn't mean to- You got a problem, Freckles." Motto took the snow globe from Nick's hands. It looked ridiculously big on his tiny frame. "We need to return this."

"It's late at night, and I'm exhausted."

Motto pointed at the miraculous worn around Nick's neck, tucked underneath his black shirt.

"You literally have the power to go out, give it back to her, then return in less than five minutes."

Nick rubbed his face. "Fine… But you're not going to get chips until tomorrow morning. Motto, Foxtrot!"

* * *

First problem Motto didn't foresee and Nick was too tired to think about is that people sleep at night.

At the top of the adjacent building, Niccolo used his flute vertically as a cane, leaning his right arm on it and left elbow on top of that, all to prop up his chin with his left hand in a lazy manner.

A quick precursory glance showed that all the windows are shut, with the locks properly locked. There are no trap doors on the ceiling to lead to the roof like his own house does.

So instead, Nick dropped down before the front door. He crouched eye level at the doorknob.

"A spring latch? Really? Rose's family needs to invest in better securi-"

Niccolo stopped. "Security…" He repeated to himself. Then, the tiniest of smirks crept up.

He looked around. His cloth tail followed his movement. There was a dumpster at the corner of the street.

Deciding to try his luck, Nick walked over to the dumpster. It smelt worse than usual. Nick's nose scrunched up in distaste. What a great time to realize he has enhanced smell.

Using one hand to pinch his nose and the other hand to hold his flute, Nick poked around the dumpster using the other end of the instrument. A few plastic containers, rotting food, and shopping bags later, Nick found an expired points card for a grocery store.

"Bingo," he whispered to himself, grin stretching on his face.

He grabbed the card, making sure not to touch any other foul materials in the garbage can. It was scratched and slightly dirty, but it'll do.

Niccolo returned to Rose's front door and stuck the card through the crack of the door.

After wiggling the card and adding pressure to the door and handle with his other hand, the card finally forced the lock to pop open, and thus the door opened.

"And that's why modern doors don't use spring latch door knobs anymore."

The house was dark. Everyone was asleep. Personally, Nick thought it was too early to be sleeping, but he remembered reading in an article before moving to France that the average sleeping time in France is greater compared to Italy's. Perhaps that statistic was valid.

Niccolo slowly crept into the house, taking care of his footsteps to not make any sound. Eventually, he made it across to the living room.

He frowned, looking at the staircase leading to the bedrooms. He could easily sneak in then sneak out with none the wiser, however it would be creepy to break into someone's room while they're sleeping.

He decided to settle for the dining table. Gloved hands held the snow globe as he gently placed the item down. At this angle to the staircase, it would be the first thing their family sees.

Patting himself on the back for a job well done, Niccolo quietly marched out of the house, a triumphant smile on his face as he locked the door behind him.

* * *

Motto glared at his miraculous owner.

Said miraculous owner would be blind to not notice his kwami's displeasure. Especially since Motto was only two centimeters away from his face.

"What. Was. That," growled Motto, flecking a stray spit on Niccolo's face.

Nick wiped his face with his sleeve, the movement pushing Motto away from his personal space.

"What was what?"

Motto let out a scandalized scoff. He gestured his tiny arms wildly at the window of Nick's bedroom.

"You know what!"

Niccolo picked up his night clothes- a wrinkled t-shirt and frayed shorts cut out of some old sweatpants- then gave them a tentative sniff.

"What's your problem? You're the one who told me to return the snow globe. I don't normally do that."

Motto shut his eyes. He rubbed his temples with his paws. Niccolo changed clothes in the silence.

Finally, Motto spoke, voice slow as if talking to a small child. "Niccolo. Please tell me. Why on Earth would you think I'd want you to break through the front door of someone's house?"

"Well the back door was locked."

Motto crossed his arms.

"Okay, okay, not in the mood for jokes." Nick plopped onto his computer chair. "It's practice."

Motto lowered his arms.

"Practice… For what..?" His eyes snapped at the computer monitor. "No. Don't tell me-"

Niccolo entered his password. The computer became alight to a news article.

 **Angel's Allure has Captivated Us All**

 _The Angel's Allure, the Newest Diamond sent from the Leroi Family, has made a stunning appearance in today's Art Showcase!_

 _The diamond has been generously donated a week ago, and already the Musee de La Franc has reached peak capacity- over half the number of visitors the Louvre gets daily!_

 _The 4-carat diamonds weighs in 280 000 euro, making it the third most expensive item in the entire museum, right after the Midnight Desire Necklace and the Sharpshooter Telescope._

Moments of Niccolo typing furiously on his keyboard, of the codes and blueprints and hours of practicing his miraculous form flashed through Motto's mind. He fell silent.

"Don't worry," said Nick, leaning back on his chair. "Nobody will figure out who I am. Like a blank slate."

He smiled at Motto. Motto didn't smile back.

* * *

 **A/N:** **I don't think anybody has spring lock front doors anymore, but researching how to break into a house doesn't give me much results. (Obviously. It's a crime.) So. Artistic license?**

 **Thief Miraculous User OCs were fairly common (especially fox miraculouses) back when I published the fic, which was one of the reasons why I was so nervous posting the first chapter and this chapter. Except after many months I couldn't think of any outstanding cons for posting this, so I pushed everything aside and did it.**

 **The next chapter won't be coming soon, but I'm aiming for less than a year (yikes, I know). Thanks for reading so far!**


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